Story highlights Beirut's garbage crisis began in July when authorities closed the main landfill but opened no alternative

The "river of trash" began four months ago when a makeshift dump sprang up and spread

The city's garbage crisis is seen as a symptom of Lebanon's dysfunctional politics

Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) A river of stinking garbage bags snakes its way through the suburbs of Beirut, a surreal and unhygienic blight on Lebanon's cosmopolitan capital.

This overflowing landfill, stretching for hundreds of meters through Jdeideh in the city's suburbs, is the consequence of the city's months-long garbage crisis -- both a symbol and a byproduct of the country's dysfunctional politics.

Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis Piles of waste resemble a river of garbage in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Wednesday, February 24. Lebanon canceled a plan to export its waste to Russia, sending the country's ongoing waste crisis back to square one as mountains of trash choke the streets. Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis A constructed pile of packed waste sits a Beirut harbor on Monday, February 22. Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis Workers arrange piles of garbage in the Hazimiye neighborhood of Beirut on February 3. Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis Piles of packed garbage are seen on January 19 behind a ruin at the Port of Beirut. Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis A traffic sign bends under the weight of garbage piling up on the side of a road north of the Lebanese capital on January 15. Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis A van drives past piles of garbage blocking a newly opened road in the town of Jdeideh, northeast of Beirut, on January 4. Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis Graffiti on a concrete wall in front of a pile of garbage in Beirut on October 17 reads, "We are living on a dream." Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis Garbage piles up at a temporary dump on a beach in Zalka, north of Beirut, on September 30. Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis Garbage surrounds a car in Baabda, east of the Lebanese capital, on August 24. Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Lebanon's waste crisis Trash piles up at the Monte Verde garbage dump, northeast of Beirut, on August 24. Hide Caption 10 of 10

"This used to be such a beautiful place, but look at it now. We can't even walk by it," Jawanah, a local resident who didn't want to give the rest of her name, told CNN.

Problems began when authorities shut the main landfill site for Beirut's garbage in July, but failed to provide an alternative site for dumping refuse.

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