Baghdad provincial council says 90% of Tigris River water is polluted

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A deputy head of the Baghdad provincial council's services committee said the Tigris River is 80% to 90% polluted and unfit for drinking, livestock watering or agricultural use. Ali Khalil al-Amiri warned that the contamination threatens the health of roughly 10 million people who depend on the river for various purposes. Al-Amiri told the council that 5,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater are discharged into the Tigris every day from nine points lacking treatment plants, and that oversight mechanisms are not functioning. He identified hospital waste as a leading source of pollution, pointing in particular to Baghdad's Medical City Hospital. The services committee has launched a broad campaign in coordination with other council committees to halt the pollution and has begun formal correspondence with the relevant authorities. A letter has also been sent to the competent body requesting that health pits be built to contain the Medical City Hospital's waste. No further details on the campaign's timeline or the authorities' response were immediately available.