It is a love affair and adoration of the French for the much-sung river Seine. That is why the organizers of the Olympic Games decided not only to include it in the sports facilities, but to use it to organize a floating parade in the brilliant opening ceremony, which will be watched by millions around the world. But in order for the river to show its beauties with its many characteristic bridges, such as the Mirabeau bridge praised by Guillaume Apollinaire, the French started a year ago the cleaning work and the other day the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, inaugurated a gigantic underground installation of rainwater near Austerlitz station in western Paris. It is located 30 meters below the ground and is one of the main actions in the efforts to clean the river, which will also host swimming competitions.

A huge project also for “after the Olympics”

“All this will obviously be useful first of all for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to be able to guarantee cleanliness with almost 100% certainty, given that there are still some questions about whether the water quality will be suitable for the events of the Olympic and Paralympic Games” said Mrs. Ildago, during the opening. “It will be a great moment and it will be very, very beautiful to see our city and our river in these conditions. And then on a day-to-day basis, because what we’re interested in is obviously that we’re not building a facility like this for two weeks of the Olympics and 10 days of the Paralympics, we’ve built it to be useful to the population as well.” But it’s not just the cleanliness problem. of water. Heavy rains have caused significant problems in the French capital. The sewers are unable to cope with the volume of rainwater and are overflowing. As a result, dirty sewage, including human excrement, ends up in the streets. Seine.

This new project, equivalent to 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools in terms of water volume storage, guarantees safety even in “the most violent episodes” of rainfall, as the mayor of the French capital said. Paris deputy mayor Antoine Guillaume compared the project to Notre-Dame de Paris, which is ready again after a devastating fire in 2019. “I like to say we are building two cathedrals,” he told reporters during a media visit Of March. “There’s the above ground one that everyone knows, Notre Dame. And then there’s the underground one.”

And Macron will swim in the Seine

But Tony Estangue, president of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, pointed out the importance of the timeless nature of the Seine cleaning project in the service of the environment. “The Games served as an occasion, as a catalyst, but this is above all about the legacy they will leave. And that, on a personal level, I find wonderful. That is exactly our vision. For these Games to serve a region, to serve the inhabitants, to serve the environment. Because there is less pollution in the natural environment. It is a river that has a better quality than three years ago. And I think it is also our collective responsibility so that our human activities can contribute to the preservation of this natural environment.”

So will the French win the clean Seine bet before the Games begin? However, Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said he was ready to dive into the Seine before the start of the Olympic Games. French President Emmanuel Macron and top Olympic officials plan to do the same in late June or early July. And from the summer of 2025 it will also be allowed for the public to swim in the Seine again in demarcated areas, which has been banned since 1923!

Reuters TV, Eurovision, AFP, DPA