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Bolivia's El Alto cleans rivers flowing into Lake Titicaca
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Environment & Climate

Bolivia's El Alto cleans rivers flowing into Lake Titicaca

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Hundreds of municipal workers in El Alto, Bolivia, cleaned 18.5 kilometers of the Seke and Seco rivers, collecting over 16 tons of solid waste.
  • The initiative aims to prevent pollution from reaching Lake Titicaca and to promote environmental education among residents.
  • Officials acknowledged that continuous efforts are needed as the public continues to pollute the riverbeds, and recommended wastewater treatment plants.

El Alto, Bolivia's second-most populous city, mobilized around 2,000 municipal workers on Saturday for a massive cleanup of the Seke and Seco rivers. The operation, spanning 18.5 kilometers, aimed to collect more than 16 tons of solid waste that pollutes these waterways before they flow into Lake Titicaca.

more than 16 tons of solid waste

— Eliser RocaThe mayor of El Alto stated the amount of waste collected during the river cleanup operation.

Mayor Eliser Roca announced this as the first of several environmental initiatives focused on "caring for Mother Earth," with future efforts planned to involve local residents and environmental volunteers. Municipal workers, organized into small teams, diligently collected debris in sacks, which were then loaded onto trucks.

first of several jornadas dedicated to the care of Mother Earth

— Eliser RocaThe mayor announced the river cleanup as the initial step in a series of environmental initiatives.

Naira Flores, the municipal secretary for Water, Sanitation, and Environmental Management, emphasized that the work, conducted within El Alto's jurisdiction, seeks to foster "environmental education" among the population. She identified solid waste dumped into the riverbeds, along with discharge from factories and slaughterhouses evading environmental regulations, as the primary sources of pollution. Flores noted that while the cleanup helps prevent trash from reaching the lake during the rainy season, it must be a constant activity because the public "keeps polluting" these channels.

environmental education

— Naira FloresThe municipal secretary highlighted the goal of modifying the population's environmental awareness.

The Seke and Seco rivers converge into the Pallina River, which eventually empties into the Katari River and then into the Cohana Bay of Lake Titicaca, one of the most polluted areas on the Bolivian side. Experts and environmental institutions recommend installing wastewater treatment plants and implementing sustainable policies to protect and restore the lake, the world's highest navigable body of water.

keeps polluting

— Naira FloresThe secretary commented on the ongoing challenge of public pollution in the riverbeds.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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