Chamber of Environmental Engineers: İstanbul Breathes Poison Even During Pandemic

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) / Archive

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Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) Chamber of Environmental Engineers (ÇMO) İstanbul Branch has shared its "2020 İstanbul Environmental Status Report" in an online statement on the occasion of Week for Struggle Against Ecological Destruction.

Reading out the statement for the press on behalf of the Chamber, ÇMO İstanbul Branch Executive Board Secretary Medet Güney has emphasized that Turkey is faced with a greater ecological destruction when compared with other countries around the world.

The ÇMO has prepared a report documenting the pollution of İstanbul's air, water and soil within this context, Güney has added.

Referring to the particle calculations for the year 2019, Güney has stressed that almost the entire İstanbul breathes polluted air.

According to Güney, even during novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, when metropolitan cities including İstanbul faced rather strict lockdown measures, the stations calculated air pollution high in the city.

İstanbul has breathed poison even during pandemic, she has added.

'İstanbul's access to water has got more expensive'

Referring to the recent projects such as the 3rd Bosphorus Bridge and 3rd İstanbul Airport, Güney has reminded her audience that İstanbul's water basins have been damaged due to such projects:

"With the Canal İstanbul project, the water basins falling within the sphere of influence of the project will disappear. While new water projects make İstanbulites' access to water more expensive, it decreases the water quality.

"Plunder projects of every stripe mean environmental and ecological destruction. A struggle needs to be waged against this."

Recommendations by the ÇMO

Güney has listed the following recommendations against this destruction:

"An emergency action plan needs to be developed to ensure that the air pollution in İstanbul will drop to the limit values.

"Instead of bringing water from other basins to İstanbul, an expensive practice, to protect its water resources, water leaks of the city at 20-25 percent need to be eliminated; all waste water treatment systems of İstanbul need to be replaced by advanced biological water treatment systems.

"All projects increasing the burden of pollution on Marmara Sea need to be stopped and the constituents of the city, people, occupational organizations and universities need to included in public inspection processes.

"The first aim has to be the urgent restriction of activities polluting the groundwater and soil of İstanbul. In order to eliminate the existing pollution, universities and environmental engineers need to included, it would be the most environmentally friendly attitude with the least social cost.

"All constructions undertaken in İstanbul need to abide by the action plan against noise. In order to prevent a potential destruction to be caused by the duality between the central government and the local administration, projects need to be opened to the inspection of occupational organizations as well as of the people living in the region." (TP/SD)

* Source: Evrensel