Iraqi capital’s river becomes open sewer
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Raw sewage continues to spill into the Tigris River in central Baghdad, exposing a systemic failure in Iraq’s wastewater infrastructure despite repeated cleanup campaigns.
Shafaq News documented multiple discharge points, particularly along al-Nahr Street, where untreated waste flows directly into the river between the Medical City complex and Abu Nuwas Street—turning pollution into a daily norm.
Health and environmental agencies have issued repeated warnings about the long-term impact on public health and ecosystems, yet little action has followed. Once the capital’s lifeline, the Tigris now serves as a dumping ground—visibly polluted, poorly regulated, and increasingly toxic.
This contamination worsens Iraq’s deepening water crisis, already strained by drought, declining river inflows, and unresolved water-sharing disputes with Iran and Turkiye.
