As many as 5,563 encroachments on the Nile River have been removed since Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and Irrigation Minister Hossam Moghazi launched on January 5 a national campaign to rescue the Nile, the Irrigation Ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that 86 encroachments on the river in Beheira, Dakahlia and Sohag were removed over the past 24 hours.

The campaign covers big and small transgressions in northern and southern the country with no exception, according to the statement.

The ministry urged all violators to consider the high interest of the country instead of being punished.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Mahlab signed in January a document to preserve and protect the Nile water.