Environment Ministry strategizes to eliminate 2017’s black cloud

CAIRO – 4 September 2017: Ministry of Environment announced Monday its strategy regarding eliminating 2017’s black cloud, which resulted due to the burning of rice straw especially in Kafr El Sheikh and Gharbia governorates.

A whole integrated system was declared to be working on the rice straw problem starting from July, in coordination with directorates of agriculture, security, and all related governmental and civil bodies in Kafr El Sheikh and Gharbia governorates according to the Chief Executive Officer of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) Mohamed Shehab Abdel Wahab’s statements.

He added that this year’s rate of the rice straw burning is less than the past one. Only 14 violations were reported according to Abdel Wahab.

The black cloud is a climatic phenomenon that occurs in Egypt’s delta due to burning rice straw after the harvest session in order to make their lands ready to be replanted again.

This phenomenon [black cloud] has been covering Egypt’s sky since 1999’s fall; accordingly, the pollution ratio gets ten times higher than normal annually.
Burning rice straw is considered illegal according to Egyptian law; farmers however still do it secretly.