Farms, fisheries stagnate along Syria's polluted Orontes River
Many people who depend on the Orontes River in Syria are complaining of worsening pollution and official inaction.
The Orontes River, also known as the Asi River, which originates in Lebanon and flows north through Syria and into Turkey, is facing environmental disaster. Pollution there is seasonal with the operation of sugar mills and olive presses, leading to the destruction of both aquatic life and the livelihoods of many people who depend on the river.
Villages along the river dispose of sewage into it, and waste also pours from industrial facilities including olive presses, a fertilizer factory and the Tal Salhab sugar factory in Hama.
In recent months, pictures of dead fish floating on the surface of the river have raised alarm about the pollution that is devastating local fish populations.
Hussein al-Aboud, a fisherman from the town of Darkush in the northwestern province of Idlib, has lost his only source of livelihood. He told Al-Monitor that fish stocks have plummeted since “the water turned black and smelly, with an oily layer on the surface.”
