CAIRO - 24 August 2019: The ad-hoc committee formed to examine the reasons behind the recent emergence of peculiar worms on Al Dekhela beach in Alexandria submitted on Saturday its report to the governor revealing they are mosquito eggs.
Peculiar creatures that look like worms found on Alexandria’s Dekhela Beach - Social Media photo
The committee included experts from the Environmental Affairs Agency, National Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries, Health Affairs Directorate, Wastewater Corporation, and Administration Center for Tourism and Summer Resorts.
Chairman of the National Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries Ahmed El Nemr told Masrawy that the eggs have spread on the beach because of the presence of waste including dead marine creatures adding that mosquito eggs increase when temperature degrees rise.
El Nemr highlighted that the same phenomenon occurred in 2017 in Al Maadeya zone in Alexandria because of the accumulation of wood dumped by certain individuals on the beaches.
As reported by Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper, researchers of the National Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries found on Al Dekhela beach fish kills. By analysing the sea water, they uncovered that the concentration of ammonia is the double, and that the water’s salinity has decreased by half among other changes. That unveils the presence of a source of fresh water, particularly sewage water.
The committee is currently detecting the sources of pollution to eliminate them. Advisor to Alexandria governor Walid Abdel Azim stated that the obvious pollutants like dead marine creatures have been removed estimating that a ship dumped such waste before entering Al Dekhela port.
In order to mitigate the impact of technical flaws in the sewage network in Al Dekhela area, municipal authorities extended in 2018 a line towards the beach instead of an empty land to dump wastewater, as reported by Youm7.
FILE - Pipes on Al Dekhela Beach before installed as part of sewage line - Egypt Today
That is because Al Dekhela Port Authority refused to house the new line that replaces the old one, which passed through its territory and broke several times as it had become obsolete. Chairman of Wastewater Corporation in Alexandria Mahmoud Nafea defended the decision saying the line carried treated sewage water, and that further studies on the environmental impact would be conducted.
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