CAIRO: The Ministry of Environment said Tuesday it had collected a total of 53,645 tons of rice straw so far, as part of concerted efforts to prevent air pollution that results from straw burning.
Two days ago, some districts in Cairo and Delta witnessed low air quality due to plumes of smoke known as “Black Clouds” due to open burning of agricultural leftovers.
The ministry has recently released satellite images showing that the open burning process was most practiced in Sharqia, Dakahlia and Gharbiya governorates.
In order to limit the phenomenon, which recurs each fall, the ministry announced controlling a number of fires, and converting hundreds of the collected straws to fertilizers and animal feed.
The campaign to reduce air pollution, which has been ongoing a few weeks, extends to inspecting factories and vehicles’ exhaust.
In the same context, the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) recently inspected 28 factories and found 14 of them violating environmental standards.
A recent inspection of 105 gas- fueled cars showed that 99 of them were exceeding emission limits. Also, 87 out of 90 diesel-fueled cars were found violating.