Citizens demand action as pollution plagues Istanbul’s waterways

Citizens demand action as pollution plagues Istanbul’s waterways

Residents dwelling close to Istanbul’s iconic Golden Horn have not too long ago expressed concern concerning the disagreeable odor originating from the discolored, polluted water, blaming the native authorities for his or her inaction.

“We live nearby. We come here to give the kids some fresh air. There was no smell before. We have been dealing with the smell for four or five months. A very distracting smell. It is intense, especially in the mornings,” Nurcan Öztürk advised Ihlas News Agency (IHA) on Monday.

However, the odor current within the Golden Horn space is an remoted concern. According to experiences from native media, comparable points attributed to uncontrolled wastewater administration and insufficient cleansing have been reported within the Cendere Creek in Kağıthane, Riva Creek in Beykoz and Tugay Creek in Maltepe.

According to experiences from Yeni Şafak newspaper, the completion of sludge removing and odor elimination models on the Baltalimanı Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) has been delayed.

The lack of exercise within the Baltalimanı Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was purported to have been accomplished in October 2020 however was solely put into service in January 2023, raises the alarm, in accordance with Justice and Development (AK Party) parliamentarian Hüseyin Coşkun.

The facility, which was tendered for about TL 330 million ($13.9 million) in 2017 when Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality was beneath AK Party administration, couldn’t be accomplished after the municipality management was handed on Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The expenditure reached TL 1.9 billion in 2023, Çoskun stated, explaining that the associated fee has risen by over TL 1.4 billion.

Noting that the contractor firm remains to be attempting to finish the ability, Coşkun stated: “Due to the deficiencies, the facility mainly carries out pre-treatment. The biological part of the facility does not work. In particular, the processing structures related to sludge could not be completed and put into operation.”

“Dumping untreated polluted water into the Bosporus has also increased the jellyfish population in our seas. The carelessness is destroying Istanbul with both a bad smell and pollution,” he added.

Sadullah Hasanoğlu, the chair of IBB’s Environment, Renewable Energy and Climate Change Commission, additionally drew consideration to the issue of waste administration, highlighting that wastewater remedy vegetation ought to be working effectively.

“If these facilities do not operate actively, and if polluted water is discharged into the sea or streams, a very strong bad odor surrounds them. Since 2019, we see that the treatment facilities have not been operated efficiently,” Hasanoğlu underlined.

Pollution throughout town

“The reason for the pollution and bad smell is poor management and ignorance. The Golden Horn is polluted and needs to be cleaned. Wastewater should not flow into the Golden Horn. Maltepe Tugay Creek also started to smell not long ago because it was not cleaned. Odor and pollution in the Riva Creek in Beykoz are (lingering) for the last three years. There is a problem. The stream is black.”

“Pollution in the streams has also increased mosquitoes, causing diseases. Streams should be cleaned and sprayed periodically for the health of the citizens,” he famous.

Osman Meydancı, one of many residents of Baltalimanı in Sarıyer, stated that they may not even open the home windows in the home they lived in for one 12 months: “I want to call out IBB Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu. He was not leaving this neighborhood before the election. He did not come here again after the election passed. Let him spend a few hours here so that he can see how it smells.”

“We can’t go down to the beach in Emirgan because the dirty water is pouring into the Bosporus. It smells like the old Golden Horn. We have complained many times; they say, ‘We will fix it’ and pass it off. Istanbul is literally living in disgrace,” the pissed off citizen maintained.

One of the areas the place the ramped-up air pollution was seen, particularly as the hotter climate is approaching, is Kurbağlıdare within the Kadıköy district, on the Anatolian facet of town.

According to AK Party Kadıköy District Deputy Chairperson Mahmut Hacıbektaşoğlu, the motion led by their occasion on the cleansing and rehabilitating the realm of Kurbağlıdere was restricted as a consequence of obstacles created by the CHP-led native municipality.

“We have received serious complaints about the smell in Hasanpaşa and Kızıltoprak as the weather warms up. People say they can’t avoid the odor and smell. It smells not only around the stream but also at the Kadıköy dock. It has become unbearable … The (existence) of a pre-treatment water facility in Kadıköy is not enough. This facility needs to be developed. If it continues like this, we will face serious health problems,” he stated.

The mukhtar of Riva Göllu village, Celalettin Ayvaz, equally conveyed the dissatisfaction as a consequence of dust within the native creek, stating that manufacturing facility waste flows into the stream, whereas the municipality is just not taking any everlasting concrete measures.

“The color of the stream is black, and it smells. We applied to the IBB; they did not clean it. We are officially living with this smell,” Ayvaz famous.

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Source: www.dailysabah.com