PLACES IN NEWS: LAKE VICTORIA (DONT MENTION PT POINTERS) 

THE CONTEXT: According to the report “Lake Victoria: Roadmap for Management of Water
Quality in Mwanza City-Tanzania” states that the Lake has been suffering from a variety of
unsustainable human activities over the last five decades.
Findings of the report:
 The Lake Victoria and its flora & fauna support the livelihoods of about 45 million
people. The ecologically unique water body is shared by three countries — Tanzania
(51 per cent), Uganda (44 per cent) and Kenya (5 percent).
 The report identified Mwanza city as a hotspot, contributing a substantial pollution
load in the form of industrial effluents, domestic sewage and dumping of solid waste.
 It also recognised two rivers — the Mirongo and the Nyashishi — as the major water
bodies carrying domestic and industrial pollution loads, respectively.
 Only 3 per cent of households are connected to sewer lines managed by the Mwanza
Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (MWAUWASA), while 93 per cent —
especially those living on the hills — are dependent on onsite sanitation (pit latrine
and septic tanks), the report highlighted.
 The city’s waste management practices have 70-80 per cent waste collection
efficiency and there is no segregation of the garbage.

Lake Victoria:
 Lake Victoria is the world’s second largest freshwater lake by surface area. Its area is
26,828 square miles (69,484 square km). Among the freshwater lakes of the world, it
is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America.
 It is the chief reservoir of the Nile, lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but
bordering on Kenya.
 It has more than 200 species of fish, of which the Tilapia is the most economically
important.
 It is also referred to as “Darwin’s Dreampond”, for its high levels of unique
biodiversity.