I f you stand in the morning and look down at an elevated position on the outs kirt of Addis, you will see black blanket of smog hovering over the city. If you were to do the same 30 years ago, you would notice a cloud of transparent moist air twinkling with the morning sunshine. It is even possible to see faint rainbow. Addis like most of the cities in the developing world is falling victim to moneycrazed, ill-advised and environmentally-ignorant urbanization. Addis’s land, air and water is being contaminated with alarming speed; its green spots dwindling and as a result its world class balmy climate is increasingly losing the quality its residents and guests used to enjoy and admire.
For one who is an avid follower of the daily world weather reports of major international broadcasters like CNN and BBC, it is easy to notice that the high land city of Addis Ababa is one of the very few major cities of the world with almost constant figures of weather parameters indicating fine temperate air condition; but now this situation is beginning to show a sign of change. A foreigner, gauging from his english accent probably an American, was sitting in front of me inside a minibus heading from Balderas to Kazanchis. He was complaining about the air quality to an Ethiopian lady sitting beside him, obviously his mate. He was saying something to this effect: “Oh gash! The air smells like a shit, and the road full of smoking cars. I was here 11 years ago.
It was not this bad. Don’t you have any government office or something looking after environment here?”,he asked. I couldn’t help chuckling. I wished I could hear his take on Addis’s water too. Kebena River is one of the major rivers crossing the heart of Addis. Few decades ago, the river’s water was potable; people used to drink Kebena’s raw water without any treatment .It was a happy place for children in the area where they can swim, fish or just take a rest by the lush grass covered river side. Now, go and see what is happening by the river. It is abandoned area.
The awful stench of the river forbids you even to look down over the bridge, over 10 meters high above the river. There are several other cases that could better epitomize the current dire situation surrounding the waters of Addis. People trivializing Premier Abiy’s efforts to clean and beautify the city and its rivers are definitely ignorant of the catastrophic scale of the environmental situation of Addis. Slating time and raising funds to take care of Addis is not something that could be seen as luxury or untimely, as some may think, under the context the current political and economic woes the country experiencing.
The scale of the pollution impact of Addis rivers in terms of the health hazards it paused on the people living in and around the city is a matter that calls for a researcher, if not already done. At least, let us not forget the vegetables we find on our dinner tables are most probably grown by the rivers of Addis, most of which are believed to be profusely contaminated by industrial and municipal wastes. Against all the odds, we still have a reason to hope for the rescue and rejuvenation of Addis waters, their return back to life, and the air to be fresh as it once was. Our reason is the commitment shown and the example set by our leaders.
Last week Premier Abiy conducted a fairly successful fund raising program,”Dine for Sheger”, aimed for his ambitious 29 billion Birr project called Beautifying Sheger project. The project covers treating the rivers crossing the city and developing 56 Km long riverside for recreational purposes. Such efforts proves we have now leaders who cares about not only the annual Forex revenue number or the economy growth rate number, but also the number of trees on the roadside or the number fishes in the river. We certainly do hope that in the near future, Addis residents would throw their fishing poles over the bridge in to Kebena River, just like the Stockholmers do it every day in Gamlastan, right in the heart of their capital city.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition May 26/2019
BY SOLOMON WASSIHUN
