Every autumn dark clouds appear over Cairo, the result of burning rice chaff in the Delta. But this year both the government and the religious authorities are getting tough with the perpetrators, reports Mahmoud Bakr It is that time of year again, the time when people's spirits start to flag and the sky turns a dark shade of grey. However, the clouds of smoke that hang low over Cairo and surrounding districts are not caused by seasonal changes alone. They are commonly blamed on farmers in the Delta burning rice chaff, a practice that the government has been trying to stamp out. However, as hefty fines have failed to put an end to the practice, the religious authorities have decided to step in. Dar Al-Iftaa, the institution in charge of telling Muslims which acts are religiously admissible ( halal ) or inadmissible ( haram ), has taken the side of the environmentalists and announced that it is against the practice of burning chaff. According to Dar Al-Iftaa, farmers who burn chaff could be guilty of what Islamic theologians call "devastating the land" ( al-ifsad fil-ard ), and it has announced a religious ban on the practice. "The ban is based on the religious rule of 'don't harm and don't be harmed' ( la darar wa la derar )," a statement from Dar Al-Iftaa said. "Scientific research has shown that children are the most vulnerable group to the air pollution caused by such practices. They can suffer from breathing problems and respiratory ailments as a result, and the odds of their being afflicted with asthma and eye infections are heightened." "Such behaviour leads to the formation of black clouds, which are among the worst signs of environmental pollution. If the burning of chaff is the reason for these problems, then burning chaff must be considered 'devastation of the land' and an unjustified form of harming others, which is a sin forbidden by the Quran," the statement added. Dar Al-Iftaa called on government departments to use all the means within their disposal to end the burning of agricultural refuse. However, it also urged officials to provide farmers with the means to get their chaff to locations in which it can be recycled or disposed of in a safe manner. "The farmers shouldn't be put through undue stress, but they shouldn't be allowed to justify their actions by pleading poverty either," Dar Al-Iftaa said. For its part, despite the failure of past sanctions the government is continuing to try all the means it has available to end the practice. Yet, according to minister of state for environmental affairs, Maged George, agricultural fires may nevertheless increase over the next few weeks, adding to present levels of environmental pollution. George said that the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs (MSEA) was encouraging investment in the recycling of municipal and agricultural refuse in order to alleviate air pollution. The MSEA had received several offers from investors wishing to assist, George said, and these were being examined for their technical and economic merits, as well as for their environmental suitability. Several such programmes are already underway, with ministry-supported factories recycling chaff to make organic fertilisers. The ministry is particularly keen to encourage composting and the production of thermal energy from chaff, and the production of fertilisers and animal feed from chaff in the Sharqiya governorate is one example of a pilot project. George called on local authorities to clamp down on burning chaff, and he urged the media to explain the harm done to the environment by burning agricultural refuse. From at least 1999 onwards, Cairo and its suburbs have suffered every year from the black clouds produced by burning chaff in the autumn months. According to George, the clouds are a result of the air near the surface of the earth heating up during the day, with this air then rising bearing a considerable amount of pollutants with it. At the end of the day, the higher layers of the air begin to cool down, which means that they sink, trapping the polluted air at low altitudes. When these two layers of rising and falling air meet they combine to form a "thermal reflection zone", or black cloud in common parlance. "Greater Cairo is one of the areas worst affected by this phenomenon, because it is situated on a low plain by a river, making it the perfect target for air-born pollutants," George said. Aside from pollution from burning chaff, Egypt also suffers from many other forms of atmospheric pollution, including pollution caused by car exhausts, industrial refuse, and the burning of urban refuse. Yet, according to George the burning of agricultural refuse is the number one culprit in autumn. In Greater Cairo, car pollution is the next most important source of air pollution, and the MSEA has set up several programmes to restrict automobile emissions. It has led the initiative to replace older taxis, for example, and it has ensured that all government-owned vehicles are as green as possible. Moreover, the MSEA is currently spending some LE1 billion in a bid to curb industrial pollution. Strictly enforced regulations have forced dozens of cement, iron and steel and chemical factories to comply with modern environmental standards, and over the past few years the ministry has supervised the relocation of dozens of smelters from Cairo to less populated areas. Alexandria-based environmental inspection squads have also taken action against individuals and institutions found burning urban and agricultural refuse in Beheira, Damanhour and Kafr Al-Dawwar. In one incident, the squad found and extinguished a chaff fire on three feddans of land, filing a police report against all those involved. Environmental inspection squads have also recently uncovered 35 cases of chaff burning in Sharqiya governorate, 12 cases in Belbeis, nine in Minya Al-Qamh, 11 in Mashtul Al-Suq, and three in Zagazig. According to Article 37 of the environment law, individuals convicted of burning agricultural refuse are punishable by one year in prison or a fine of up to LE100,000. Inspectors also recently discovered seven brick factories using diesel oil in Al-Shobek Al-Ghabri and 11 illegal brick factories in Ajhur Al-Kobra. Ten pottery workshops in Masr Al-Qadima have been given warnings against using wood for fuel. Six aluminum workshops, an aluminum factory in Akraqsha, and eight metal workshops and smelters in Madinat Nasr have also been fined for not observing standard safety precautions. The head of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Mawaheb Abul-Hazm, has led inspection squads in Sharqiya, where several farmers have been arrested for burning chaff. Environmental inspectors discovered 15 brick factories in Ayyat using diesel oil against regulations. An aluminum factory in Helwan and a tannery in Shubra Al-Kheima were also found to be in violation of emission regulations. In a statement, George said that in order to deter further potential violators, news of the arrests and penalties involved had been released on the MSEA website and sent to the media.
