 35 Million people rely on the Citarum River on the islands of Java Indonesia, but it’s become a toxic river

of waste.

 A study by the World  30 miles upstream, here the

You can Herman, one of the locals Bank found almost all river passes through Majalaya
barely see the people said “ 40 years ago when of these villages dump major industrial areas and the
river it’s just I started fishing. It was easy to their rubbish by the village where the local people
covered in get a good catch. And since than river. Within 200 miles live.
60 percent of the fish species the rubbish starves the
plastics. There’s have been wiped out. water of oxygen.
all kinds of
rubbish here from
: shoes &
nappies.
If the water is killing a
fish, what effect it’s
having on the people ?

So many people in this area use

 Urgent action needs to be
taken to stop the pollution.
 Goverments work together
to developing village
infrastucture, education,
and health care.
 Organizing an
environmental campaign.
FYI
 Sometimes the water that people
use for their daily needs is mixed
with the waste water from the
textile industry and sewers.
 More than people in this region
working in the industries. Sometimes
they feels ironic, conflicated and
concerned but they need to eat so
they must have to work there.
 People here know this is dangerous
but they have no option.
the only water source from
Citarum river for drink, take a
bath, brush their teeth, washing the
The biggest concern
is for the villagers
youngest residents
because many of them
dishes or clothes etc. (If people
get rash from the water.
don’t use a rag to filter the water,
the clothes will give rash).
Many of these people who lives around the padi fields use
water from the river for irrigation. This is very dangerous
to human health because the waste water from the
industrial has a heavy metals like mercury. And people who
drink this water are at risk getting cancer, mental
retardation, very slow growth especially in children.