Faulty sewers were carrying water full of rubbish and who knows what else in the Nairobi National Park. Thanks to a social media complaint by Italian photographer Paolo Torchio, who is always very aware of environmental issues within the country's reserves and parks, the Nairobi City Water and Severage Company was told by NEMA to take immediate action to repair the sewage pipes and stop the drainage which is dangerous to the many animal species that have always lived in the city park.
It was NEMA Director Mamo B. Mamo who told the media that teams from the Ministry of Environment branch are already on site to ensure that the pipes are repaired, together with the Nairobi Metropolitan Service.
Meanwhile, an investigation will also be launched to ascertain whether there are any illegal discharges from industries or condominiums in the vicinity of Nairobi Park.
A few days ago, Paolo Torchio wrote on his very popular social space, next to eloquent pictures: 'The small lake National Park stinks to high heaven: unreal colours, water as green as pea soup with electric blue foam. So is the corner of the Hyena Dam. What is happening? Why are the relevant authorities blind? Hippos, crocodiles and birds live inside the cesspool, but no action is taken. It was hard to breathe while I was taking those pictures."
Following this, the President of Friends of Nairobi National Park, Gareth Jones, wrote to the Director of Nema, expressing his concern about the polluted water flowing into Nairobi Park and into the Athi River. The letter was also sent to the KWS, as well as to the Ministry of Tourism.
Nairobi Park is still home to lions, African buffalo, baboons, the eastern black rhino, the southern white rhino, the common zebra and Grant's gazelle, as well as Thompson's gazelle, Maasai giraffe, eland, impala, ostrich, jackal, warthog and waterbucks and 400 species of birds. 
It has long been threatened by the metropolis' building development and pollution, and has already been affected by the SGR railway.
After 10 years, Tourism Minister Najib Balala has prepared a management plan that addresses the problems that have recently arisen in parks and reserves, including poaching, the slow extinction of some species, human-animal conflicts, pollution and invasive excavations, and climate change. Also specific to the park are increased urbanisation, illegal settlement and construction, and sustainable infrastructure. 

(photo Paolo Torchio)