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The environmental pollution disaster that befell the Litani River also affected the rest of the rivers and other winter streams. The capital Beirut witnesses in early winter the flooding of the Ghadir River, which floods the eastern and southern entrances of Beirut, and its waters meet the winter torrents that penetrate the Naameh and Costa Brava weirs to form with the water from the Ghadeer a strong winter current floods the homes of the poor in Ouzai before the water drains into the sea near the Rafik airport. Hariri International. In addition, Beirut “enjoys” another drain named after him, blocking Beirut’s northern and eastern entrances when it floods, eventually draining into the sea near the famous Burj Hammoud landfill.
In fact, it took almost 74 years for these developments to emerge in their current form. In 1926, Lebanon did not have a special law to regulate the management and exploitation of water. Rather, the sector was subject to a law issued in 1926, which stipulated in some of its articles that water is public property to which the rules of acquired rights do not apply, and that it is not allowed to dig artesian wells on the premises. from the springs. Near water sources, and drilling a well is prohibited, except under a legal license issued by the competent authority … During this period, the water decision was distributed among 209 committees or interests, most of which bear the name from the spring or river (Al-Tasa spring water, Barouk water, Ain Dulbah water, Shamsin water …).
This situation continued until the Water Law was enacted in May 2000, according to which the water committees and departments were divided into four public institutions. Since the law was enacted to this day, there have been major changes. The blackberry spring, the main source of the Litani River that once bore the name “the Bekaa sea”, has disappeared and its waters no longer explode after dozens of wells were dug in its sanctuary. The Hammam spring also disappeared in the Marjayoun plain when the Jabal Amel Water Authority dug a group of wells in the Al-Khokh valley near the spring. The surface waters of the river were not spared from these attacks. Rather, the attack on them was characterized by dumping solid waste onto campus from rivers and into winter waterways, and launching sewer horns that transport wastewater directly to the sea or rivers. Then, the great catastrophe occurred when the sewers of 48 towns and cities in the western Bekaa were directed towards it to flow directly into its streams and the sewers of its tributaries, finally settling in the Qaraoun Lake, which has become a huge sanitary sink where sewage is forming, about a quarter of its capacity.
The attack on the Litani River was not limited to sewage from the houses of the western Bekaa villages in the course of the river and its tributaries, but also included waste residues from some 950 industrial and processing establishments, including 105 factories for the production of dairy and cheese, including the “fine” for Lebanese milk that was punished for the first time. The attack also included the remnants and remnants of the agricultural production conversion plants les agro alimentaires, the waste from slaughterhouses and poultry farms, and the ten wine silencers, not to mention what the irrigation water carried into the river by surface runoff. of fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides.
This attack on the waters of the river and its tributaries continued until the interest of the Litani River finally stopped from assuming its leadership. A new administration has placed at the top of its priorities a fierce war against polluters between careless plant owners and municipalities, using all available means to respond to it; File lawsuits against violators or select fixed points to protect the river. Not to mention the media campaigns that he carried out against the aggressors, rapists and silent ones about the massacre that took place in the river. The first of this campaign was the issuance of the first ruling to punish an offender.
However, the dumping of solid waste into the riverbed and its tributaries did not stop. This is inferred from the presence of an “ice sheet” on the surface of Lake Qaraoun, made up of nylon bags, tree leaves, cattle hides and other hard-to-identify debris. This means that sewage continues to pour into the river and its lake, and the river continues to collect garbage bags that are thrown along the river by housewives, and the owners of stalls in the vegetable markets located on the shore near the river they are still releasing their destroyed goods downstream.
Fine water pollutants is a bold step, but it is awaiting implementation and does not replace the action of the judiciary and the environmental prosecution
The battle to protect the Lebanese rivers, in general, and the Litani in particular, requires the concerted efforts of all security, administrative, legal, industrial and environmental efforts, municipalities and other public and private institutions to exercise their care function and protection, rather than leaving the matter in the custody of Litani’s interests alone, on the basis of “Go ahead And your Lord, and fight, we will sit here.” The problem is that the officials are not fulfilling their functions, from the traffic police to the water guard, to the environmental prosecutor. So what stops the Zahle municipal police, for example, from organizing an arrest report with a driver dumping his garbage bag in the Bardouni River, while rushing to organize an arrest report against you if you park your car for a moment in a place where parking is prohibited? And why do the Al-Qasimia Canal guards continue to work in the administration offices during the winter season, despite the fact that most of the infractions occur on the canals this season, while guarding day and night to protect the water in the main canals during the irrigation season? Why doesn’t the environmental prosecutor act on his own when there is a violation in a water project, instead of waiting for the injured to file a lawsuit?
The organization of the first arrest against the offender was long preceded by other countries. In France, for example, a tourist is punished if he throws a lemon peel or a cigarette butt into the Seine River, and his pretense of ignorance of French laws is useless. A relative threw a garbage bag a while ago in a stream near his home in the city of Rennes, and when the municipal police found the bag, they sorted its contents and discovered that there was a utility bill on which the address was written . In Iran, which I recently visited, the tour organizer insisted that we visit some agricultural experiment stations in Isfahan. Among the stations we visited were the gardens of birds, flowers, and fish floating in man-made lakes of water, surrounded by luxurious trees, chestnut and oak. However, when we entered the gardens at the beginning of the day, we were surprised that the surface of the water was clear and not a single leaf was floating on it even though it was the fall season. Also, the site guard told us that a team of workers collects leaves and twigs from the lake’s surface every two hours during the day. We were later told that protecting water and green spaces is an ingrained culture of Iranians. This was demonstrated during a visit to the famous Isfahan Square, which has a vast flower and rose garden in the middle, and no barrier separates it from the rest of the square, where tens of thousands of tourists and hikers roam. The same situation was repeated in the luxurious flower garden near the Imam Khomeini shrine in Tehran.
The protection of water and the environment needs a modern rural legislation code that protects these resources from manipulation by abusers, and it is not enough to amend an article in the water law.
* Agricultural engineer
The fines await their application
On October 16, 2020, the Chamber of Deputies approved a reform to the Water Law No. 77 to fine legal persons that carry out activities and activities of a contaminated nature with the so-called “pollution compensation subsidy”, and also imposed a prison fine for offenders and a fine of up to 300 times the minimum wage. (Currently, the minimum wage is £ 675,000, which means the maximum fines reach £ 202.5 million), and the activities of offenders can also be stopped. These violations are, in summary, the following:
– Withdrawal of water without permission.
– Invest or establish facilities or practice works or activities outside the license.
– Throwing, liquefying, throwing or pouring materials or substances harmful to surface, underground or marine waters.
Dumping, emptying or leaving waste of any nature in surface waters, maw or marine waters within Lebanese territorial borders.
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