Egypt unveils plan for desert city in latest mega project

A group of camels and horses stand idle in front of the Great Pyramids awaiting tourists in Giza, Egypt on March 29, 2017. [FILE]

Egypt on Sunday unveiled plans for a vast new urban development west of Cairo where a man-made channel of the River Nile will eventually wind through what was once arid desert.

The new city, named Jirian, meaning "Flow" in Arabic, is part of Egypt's Nile Delta scheme, a massive agricultural initiative aiming to reclaim about 2.5 million acres west of the original Nile Delta.