The report recently released has revealed that the overall environmental situation in Morocco's economic capital is dangerous, especially its waters.

“Surface waters' quality has generally deteriorated,” underlined the new report, adding that most of the city's rivers (Ouad Hassar, Oued Bouskoura and oued EL Maleh) are of bad quality.

As a result of the increasing industrialisation in the region, factories' waste water is seriously affecting groundwater, making the situation much worse.

“Groundwater in the region is also of bad quality,” stressed the report, warning people against using well water in their daily domestic needs.

The humid zones too are in a bad state due to the indusial and households garbage thrown in them, which raises questions on the work of local authorities.

What makes the problem worse is the use of nearby empty lands as dumps. Moreover, most of the garbage produced in the city (1,000 by hospitals and 9,000 by factories) remains untreated.

The report has also revealed the absence of drainage systems in some areas in the city. As a result, both household and industrial waste is thrown anywhere.

Another alarming conclusion is the fact that 2,689 of factories do nothing to limit their emissions and waste. According to news reports, only a limited number of factories in the Sidi Bernoussi area have adhered to an international cooperation system to protect the environment.

It is worth noting that Morocco will soon set up a National Charter for Environment and Sustainable Development, which will be presented on the occasion of Earth Day's 40th anniversary.

In this respect, Morocco's capital Rabat has been selected by the Earth Day Network as the site of one of the major Earth Day celebrations.

The event, to take place on Saturday, April 24, will include top international speakers and musical talent. It will also see the participation of Moroccan government agencies, NGOs, community groups.