A thick carpet of algae has covered Lake Victoria’s Murchison Bay, causing a sickening stench in Luzira, Ggaba and Munyonyo and making key fishing zones unusable.

The algae mass, which looks like green paint on the lake surface, is a result of increased pollution from human disposal and industrial waste.

The waste flows into the lake through the Nakivubo Channel, which was built to stop the lower areas of the capital from flooding.

But by solving one problem, another was created. The pollution of the lake has been aggravated by encroachment on the Nakivubo wetland, which is a natural filter.

As a result, the cost of treating water at the Ggaba water station has tripled in the past decade. The National Water and Sewerage Corporation had to adopt cost-cutting measures, including laying off some of its staff, to avoid the water bills from going up. But the parastatal might run out of options and be forced to transfer the cost to the consumer.

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