The Daily Mail is reporting on the heavily polluted Citarum River in West Java, Indonesia — so polluted, in fact, that “[locals] no longer try to fish. It is more profitable to forage for rubbish they can salvage and trade – plastic bottles, broken chair legs, rubber gloves – risking disease for one or two pounds a week if they are lucky.”
Just how polluted could it be? Have a look at the photos.
With over nine million people living nearby, and 500 factories using the shores as a chemical dumping ground, it’s no wonder it looks the way it does. Absolutely appalling. [via]