Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Pollution at Sungei Pandan wreck lovely scenery

Pollution at Sungei Pandan wreck lovely scenery
STOMPer Boatman was upset when he spotted, what he called 'serious pollution', at Sungei Pandan at Jalan Buroh.

Says this STOMPer:

"These pictures were taken beneath the bridge that crosses the Sungei Pandan at Jalan Buroh.

"You can easily estimate the extent of environmental pollution of our precious waterways.
"There were lots of drink cans, plastic bags, polystyrene boxes and the area was infested with mosquitoes.

"A wooden rickety pier that was probably put up by the fishermen who came to unload their daily catch. You can see a boat moored by the side.

"The image of the setting sun was reflected in the water of the river. The day was coming to an end and the birds were returning to their homes. It was very peaceful at the bank of the river and the crickets in the bushes began their nocturnal chorus to usher in another night."

Pollution at Sungei Pandan wreck lovely scenery
Pollution at Sungei Pandan wreck lovely scenery
Pollution at Sungei Pandan wreck lovely scenery

A cleanup session was held in these mangroves at Sungei Pandan as part of International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) in September last year. In fact, it was the first cleanup held at this site. Part of the 1.37 tonnes of rubbish cleared from just a small area of the mangroves included 39 tyres.

3 sets of photos from the session can be viewed at Flickr (1, 2, 3).

You can also view the overall survey results of that cleanup session over at this link, as well as analysis of the amount of trash collected by the 3 participating groups, Oil Spill Response and East Asia Response Limited, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, and the NUS Raffles Museum Toddycats.

These mangroves are also the focus of blog posts by Siva (who also has a gallery of his trip at this link), Kok Sheng, and most recently, by Ria.