Rome mayor’s claim of swimmable Tiber in five years met with scepticism | Italy

Rome hopes to host swimmers back to the Tiber River in five years.

During his visit to Osaka Expo in Japan on Thursday, Roberto Gualtieri said that a working group was established to examine the feasibility of the cleaning project.

“We are pleased to have already identified that this is a completely accessible target: We will be able to swim in Tiber in five years,” he said.

However, the Italian media and experts reacted with skepticism, which may take longer in a country where the existing pollution may have an acceptable level, especially in a country where public affairs may have a long -fame long -time schedule.

Until the 1960s, the Romans regularly swam into the river, but the pollution authorities pushed restrictions to restrictions. Today, with swimming fines, hundreds of euros enter, but a long -standing New Year’s tradition survives that divers dive into one of the bridges of Rome into the cold waters below.

Gualtieri said that if the pollution rates in Tiber are lower than previously recorded in Seine, the Roman operation will be cheaper than € 1.4 billion (£ 1.2 billion) Paris pioneer.

Nevertheless, the river of the Italian capital is far from being intact. In April, scientists Tara Microplastic Mission Published findings showing that Tiber has an average of three microplastic particles per cubic mek of waterway pollution. This may be far from more than 20 particles per cubic meter recorded in India’s gang, but is still far from reassuring.

More research by the Italian Environmental Protection and Research Institute (ISPRA) in September 2024 clarified In addition to worrying ammonia and stool bacteria, Tiber carried the waste – mostly plastic – which floats more than the other Italian river.

Alessandro Miiani, President of the Italian Environmental Medicine Association, said, “Health risks with pollution in tiber and inner waters are extremely high”. Roma told the news website today. “The presence of stool bacteria like Escherichia coli It can trigger gastrointestinal infections with symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting. Contact with contaminated water can also cause skin and eye infections, which leads to rashes and eye irritation. “

Meanwhile, the Paris project lasted decades. Although it was used for swimming activities during the Seine 2024 Olympics, concerns about water quality continued. Several activities were postponed due to high E coli Their levels, some athletes received precautionary medicine before competing.

As a result, the Italian media was not convinced of Tiber’s controversial Renaissance. Rome, “the way to swim Tiber in five years is not a downhill. It continues to be a remote target for now,” he wrote.

In late July, when he first raised the possibility of making the Gualtieri River swim, the national daily La Repubblica ran with the title: “A swimming tiber? A long and expensive journey – if it begins.”

The article pointed out a much smaller project that made the lake suitable for the bathroom in the EUR region of Rome. “Tiber will take much longer, La La Repubblica said.

Reuters contributed to this report.