Most of Water Hyacinth Removed from Lake Tana in One Month

Addis Ababa November 18/2020 (ENA) Over 60 percent of the water hyacinth, locally known as Emboch, which invaded Lake Tana, has been removed through a national campaign that will last for one month , according to Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity. 

Water, Irrigation and Energy State Minister, Abrha Adugna told ENA that 17 of the 30 kebeles along the shore and in the lake were cleared from water hyacinth during the last 20 working days.

More than 200,000 people have taken part in the campaign that successfully cleared 60 percent of the weed.

The plan for this campaign is to remove 90 percent of the water hyacinth, which covers 4,300 hectares of land in Lake Tana.

The state minister said the campaign will continue for 10 more working days so as to hit the target despite the campaign initially planned to be concluded within a month.

He urged all concerned parties and the general public to participate and contribute their share in the campaign to save Lake Tana, one of the major sources of Abay River.

The campaign will be used as best experience to be applied on Koka, Abaya, and Chamo lakes that are victims of water hyacinth, Abrha pointed out.

The authorities launched a month-long campaign to remove water hyacinth from Lake Tana last month.