According to a report issued by 6th of October City’s municipal health committee, canals running through the village of Abul Nomros south of Cairo have been badly contaminated by industrial waste and animal carcasses, increasing the incidence of cancer and kidney failure among local residents.
The report, released on Thursday, also found that trees planted along the Mariouteya canal had all withered and died as a result of pollution, and that the Saqara Bridge that spans the canal was on the verge of collapse.
The committee recommended that licenses previously granted to fishermen to build fisheries in the area be terminated, since their products would inevitably run the risk of contamination.
"The pollution hasn’t just killed fish," said committee president Abdel Hakim Radwan. "It has spread into cultivated areas around the canals, contaminating all the crops that are grown there."
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
