World

The disaster of drought and water shortage crisis in Iran

December 15, 2018
An Iranian shepherd walks his herd in the middle of Hamoon wetland near the Zabol town. — AFP
An Iranian shepherd walks his herd in the middle of Hamoon wetland near the Zabol town. — AFP

By Hassan Mahmoudi

IRAN is currently suffering from shortage and lack of water and certain policies have been put in place by the Iranian government that put the country in the current situation.

Here is a look at the causes behind lack of water in Iran

1) One of the causes of water scarcity in southern Iran and the rest of the country is because of extensive and generally non-scientific dam building by Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). The lands that have been dried up by these dams are grounds for particulate storms.

2) One example is the Gotvand Dam in Khuzestan. The dam was built on a salty ground. Environmentalists warned at the time of construction, that the water that will be built up behind the dam will dissolve the salt bed and turn it into salt water. However, the project continued, and the result was that not only the water behind the dam became salty water, but also many of Khuzestan’s land suffered irreparable damage due to water salinity.

3) In recent months, we have witnessed mass protests in Khorramshahr, Borazjan, and villages around Kazeroon. In July, people of Khorramshahr came to the streets for lack of drinking water. The IRGC responded to their protests by firing bullets.

4) Khorramshahr is located near the Iraqi border and many of the IRGC terrorist movements are carried out there. This city is located near the Karun River, but it does not have drinking water. People were alleging that the IRGC had sent Karun water to its forces to Basra in Iraq and to attract local people.

5) Also in July in Borazjan, which was suffering from lack of water and people were protesting, the IRGC attacked Kazerooni farmers' pumps and killed one of the farmers.

6) It is necessary to pay attention to the extensive dam buildings that have been carried out by the IRGC in different parts of the country. According to official announcements in the last 15 years, the average water collected in the reservoirs of these dams was slightly more than 40 percent of the capacity of the reservoirs. But the real consequence of this is to disrupt the ecosystems in the areas where damming has taken place; areas that have dried up in this way, and since other natural floods are not flowing in them, have become the source of particulates.

7) Areas such as Ghahdaridjan in Isfahan province, Doroud in Lorestan province, Izeh and Dezful in Khuzestan province, each of which somehow suffers from the shortage of water and its effects on the agriculture of the region, the immediate consequence of which is the economic downturn and the spread of unemployment.

8) Drilling hundreds of thousands of deep wells: In Iran, hundreds of thousands of deep wells have been dug for use in industries related to the IRGC or private industries by paying bribes. Drying of Lake Orumiyeh is partly due to 80,000 deep wells dug around it.

9) Mohamad Nasari, representative of Khuzestan province in the Supreme Council of the Provinces, said: “The problem of water salinity in some cities in Khuzestan is serious. Water salinity in some cities in Khuzestan such as Shadegan, Abadan and Khorramshahr, is the same as the salinity of the sea and the transport of water with tankers does not provide the people’s needs, and people have to buy mineral water for drinking.”

10- According to the IRNA State News Agency, in May 2018, a member of the city council said about the situation in the city of Ahwaz: "The situation in Ahwaz currently is very dangerous and volatile. There is no drinking water in all of Ahwaz, and consumable water is red. It has the smell of mud and infection. Last year, in 2017, only one day in a month or a few weeks, this situation existed for water, but now it continues constantly in all parts of the city."

Lack of water has also created problems for farmers in the province, and farmers in the province are also in crisis. — Al Arabiya English


December 15, 2018
1605 views
HIGHLIGHTS
World
4 hours ago

Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

World
4 hours ago

Jacob Zuma barred from running in South Africa elections

World
7 hours ago

India opposition leader Kejriwal to remain in jail in corruption case