With El Nino around the corner in Kenya, youths in Nairobi are racing towards cleaning the Nairobi River.
Clad with protective gears, the youth were seen pulling out garbage ranging from plastic papers to algae-like materials.
With gloves in their hands, the youths were seen conversing as they tried to pull some stuck materials under the dirty and polluted water.
The exercise which kicked off in August has seen over 800 youths get employed through the project.
Nairobi River Clean-up Project Engineer Solom Owango said there was a build-up of too much waste in the river.
Even as he spoke, the youths were seen removing the waste with cranes and other machines as spectators were keenly observing the exercise.
Owango said the waste has caused the clogging of water and affected the environment.
"After cleaning, we have a maintenance project for it. As we clean we identify the areas where there is more pollution. The areas most polluted will be converted into facilities such as parks so that those involved can assist in the clean up," he said.
He urged communities living around the river to be cautious of the environment and avoid throwing waste into the river.
On July 18, Water PS Paul Rono said individuals who have encroached on riparian land surrounding the river will be removed.
New technologies will be adopted in the latest bid to tackle the sewage menace in the city.
Rono said plans are also underway to fix sewerage in the city, adding that modern technologies will be adopted so that wastewater can be treated and used for irrigation.
The PS said a million cubic meters of water supplied to Nairobi requires close to 750,000 cubic metres of sewerage facility.
“At present, we are talking about a capacity of sewerage in Nairobi that is close to 200,000 compared to the amount of water, which is 525,000 cubic metres of water per day. That is not adequate.”
“That is why sometimes we have spillages of sewage due to inadequate facilities to support the slum areas and other areas where we have had mushrooming buildings,” Rono said.
Nairobi City Water and Sewage Company is producing 525,000 cubic metres per day against a demand of 850 million litres, leaving a shortfall of 325 million litres.
Out of the water supplied, 300,000 cubic metres are lost daily through leaks also known as non-revenue water (unaccounted water).
Rono said the population has grown to the extent that a building that is to serve one household has been converted into flats and now serves several households.