Green Sisi River .. Grace or curse?

Abdul Karim Salim - Cairo

Egyptians tell that the Undersecretary of the Ministry asked a contractor to paint and decorate the new villa of the agent of the fifth assembly (one of the high suburbs east of Cairo and close to the new administrative capital): Where you live Azmi? "In the gardens of Maadi on the Corniche, O Fendem," he replied sarcastically, "We pay here millions in the desert palaces, and you live in the nest of the Nile?"

The conversation took place months before Egyptian Prime Minister Mustapha Medbouli announced the launch of a project to dig a 35 km long river that will cut the heart of the new administrative capital at an estimated cost of LE35 billion (about US $ 2 billion).

The river is expected to compensate residents of the capital for the Nile, one of the unique features of Cairo's population.

Shock costs
But the project at its huge cost shocked the followers and citizens, in anticipation of more economic burdens that weigh heavily on the Egyptians.

The announcement of the new river suddenly, which is likely to be implemented without the study of feasibility, such as previous projects, which confirmed President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi that "if I waited for feasibility studies did not come to light early."

The Green River - the name of the new river - will start from the central ring road to the regional ring road, as well as through the central business district of the new capital, the newspaper said on Thursday.

The sources said that the state took into account the design of the new administrative capital to mediate a green river project to be opened in 2020, simulating the Nile River, which is mediating the city of Cairo.

According to the few available information, the Urban Communities Authority is responsible for providing funding for the Green River project and the central park overlooking the Green River. The first phase of the river will cost about 9 billion pounds (500 million dollars), according to the prime minister.

The Arab Contractors Company is implementing the project to cultivate about 168 feddans (428.8 square meters) of the river-facing gardens in the new administrative capital as part of the first phase of the prime minister's inauguration last Monday.

Political symbolism
According to Damietta University professor of dam engineering, Mohamed Hafez, the Green River project is meant to be a sign of the Sisi system. Its waters are being pulled from the Nile Nile in Cairo, as well as a number of agricultural banks.

He added in an interview to Al Jazeera Net that the pipes of the water network will extend east of the treatment plant in the tenth of Ramadan and New Cairo, where will be provided about 250 thousand cubic meters of water for domestic use and about one million cubic meters are treated three times to irrigate the gardens of the new capital, which is about one thousand acres.

The deliberate waste of luxury is based on the fact that the cultivation of these 1,000 acres of trees and gardens is supposed to consume no more than 20 cubic meters per day, ie, about 20,000 cubic meters per day, which could be transported through pipes 1.0 meters below the ground, Open water needs more than 20 thousand cubic meters, cost billions of pounds to be filled and reflect an aesthetic view.

The dam expert believes that the system is trying to compensate for the wrong choice of the city's location as an arid desert piece about 350 meters above sea level - making its weather more drought-by creating an "industrial" lung for its elite population by raising about 1.5 million cubic meters per day of Nile water In Cairo through several pumping stations to raise this huge amount of water, with the huge energy costs required.

Irrigation system expert Omar Haddad says it is technically impossible to run a river in the capital's administrative district because of its sandy nature, as well as the geographical nature and pictures of the area surrounding the main mosque.

The problem of high evaporation rates in the dry zone, where the temperature is very high for the Nile Valley, is also very close to areas that are considered to be Meshtas for Egyptians such as Ain Sukhna and Red Sea mountain ranges.

The problem of the lack of clay mudslides along the river's path reduces the possibility of using its water for normal uses, which means that groundwater is used to compensate for this shortage in light of the need for a large amount of treated water.

Al-Haddad warns of the dangers of the project, saying that "if the transfer of Nile water is used, this means the reduction of water quantities for the activities of agriculture, industry and drinking in the valley is already suffering scarcity."

Al-Haddad said in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that the continuation of this project means an economic disaster on the country will not be less serious than the disaster of the Suez Canal, which was characterized by interest in appearance at the expense of economic feasibility and the interests of the country.