False flamingo hope

"Fayoum, Egypt - In Shakshouk, a village surrounding Egypt's Lake Qarun, the smell of rot coming from the water is overpowering. The lake, situated in the Fayoum Oasis - a depression in the desert 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the southwest of Cairo - has long been famed for its abundant fish. But little fishing activity is taking place. Boats are parked along the shore, with only one or two crossing the lake every few hours."

"The dozens of fish restaurants lining the waterfront are mainly closed, and the handful that are open had no customers inside. The smell, and the lack of fishing activity, are linked. Small drainage channels cut through Shakshouk's streets and discharged untreated sewage into the lake. "The lake's smell has become very bad, especially in the summer," one fisherman said. "The smell is unbearable because of pollution.""

"In December, photographers captured images that quickly drew national attention: flocks of flamingos wading through the shallows of the lake. The images were soon picked up by state newspapers as proof of the success of a government-led restoration project of the lake, with the Egyptian prime minister's office even hailing the "return of flamingos to Lake Qarun" as a "turning point in the lake's environmental recovery"."

Lake Qarun in the Fayoum Oasis is heavily polluted by untreated sewage and drainage channels, producing an overpowering smell that intensifies in summer. Fishing activity has collapsed: boats sit idle, fish restaurants remain closed, and fishermen report unbearable odors. Small drainage channels in villages like Shakshouk discharge raw waste into the lake, degrading water quality and destroying habitats for fish and birds. Photographs of flamingos wading in shallows prompted state media to hail ecological recovery, but local conditions and continued pollution contradict those claims. The mismatch between visible wildlife and persistent contamination raises concerns about long-term environmental and economic damage.

Read at www.aljazeera.com