Jul 14 2021

Iran’s water crisis has heightened in the past month, due to the low rainfall and the regime’s mismanagement. Water in many villages is being supplied with tankers, and many citizens suffer from long periods of water shortage during the hot summer days.

In the western province of Lorestan, the Head of the Water and Sewage Company, Hamidreza Kermond, said there are 120 villages that depend on tankers for their daily water. He added that 1.2 million people from the 1.8 million population are facing water problems.

“There is no more water left that we can distribute through the water network and pump to the storage tanks,” Kermond said.

According to a report by the Human Rights News Agency, a citizen in Isfahan central Iran said they did not have water for long periods of time.

“The authorities sent 40 tankers into the city, instead of presenting an effective solution. The sanitation of the distributed water was unclear to us, since we want our women and children to drink from it,” the citizen said.

An official in nomadic issues in the northeastern province of North Khorasan said over 3,000 nomadic families have a serious need of water.

“We need at least 30 billion rials ($122,100) to provide a mobile water supply, which was not given to us yet,” the official said. He added that many of the natural water supplies such as water springs in the region have dried up.

In Varzaqan, northwestern Iran, the Governor said that 65 villages have problems with their water supply. He added many areas do not have drinking water.

In Semnan, northern Iran, Iraj Heydarian, the Head of the Water Company of the district said there has been a 34% decrease in water in the province since last year. Heydarian also said there was a 46% decrease in rainfall since last year.

According to official statistics, there have only been 112 millimeters of rainfall this year, whereas the average rainfall in Iran is usually 192 millimeters. In addition to Iran’s water crisis, the constant blackouts across Iran have only intensified problems for farmers and livestock owners.

In Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, hundreds of Iranian Arabs took to the streets on July 11 to protest the water shortages. Locals demanded their water rights and the blockage of dams. They gathered peacefully outside the Governor’s building, demanding authorities to respond to the water problems. Security forces surrounded the locals and detained many of the participants in the water protests. Ahvaz temperatures yesterday had a high of 49°C/120°F.

In early July, the Saravan representative in Iran’s parliament said that the biggest problem in the southeastern county is a lack of water. Malek Fazeli, the Saravan MP, said this problem has always been a concern but it has currently become more profound and drastic, due to the minimal rainfall.

Fazeli said most of the wells in Saravan County have dried up and supplying water has become a crisis.

Iran’s water crisis in the past

Last year in Gheyzaniyeh, a rural district in Ahvaz, southwest Iran, locals clashed with security forces when they blocked the roads, demanding running water. Although this district has over 300 oil wells, it is one of the most poverty-stricken areas in Khuzestan province. One of the main problems of the residents is drinking water deprivation.

Source » irannewswire