The stench returns to Tehran; cause unknown
An unpleasant smell is being smelled in various areas of Tehran. Residents of Vanak, Pol-e-Madirat, Piruz, Yaft Abad, Azadi, Enghelab, and Imam Hossein Square have complained about the smell. The governor of Tehran says the smell this time is not the same as last year.
In parallel with Tehran's air pollution and the declaration of unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups, an unpleasant odor in the capital, especially in districts 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 13 of Tehran, is bothering citizens. Residents of the areas of Vanak, Pol-e-Madirat, Piruz, Yaft Abad, Azadi, Enghelab, and Imam Hossein Square have smelled and complained about this odor; it smells like rotten eggs.
The deputy head of supervision and monitoring at the Environmental Protection Organization says that the issue of odor emissions in the aforementioned areas was raised in a meeting of the Tehran Province Air Pollution Reduction Working Group, and experts are investigating to find the source of the odor. Mohammad Rastegari announced that if the type of pollution is determined, steps can be taken to identify its source.
Jalal Maleki, spokesman for the Tehran Municipality Fire Department, also said that after public calls, two stations were dispatched to the central and southwestern areas of Tehran: "Firefighters have announced that a small and unusual odor is being smelled in some areas, but its origin is unknown." Maleki asked Tehran citizens not to pay attention to rumors, but he himself did not explain the cause of the odor.
A Tehran resident told DW: "A group of students from Al-Zahra University in Deh Vanak said that we were fainting in class from the stench and were on the verge of nausea."
The governor of Tehran has announced that this year's bad smell is not the same as last year's. The director general of the Geological Survey's Hazards Office said that the cause of Tehran's smell is the strong southerly wind combined with humidity: "This smell is noticeable whenever the wind direction in Tehran changes to the south."
Shima Ansari, Director General of Environment and Sustainable Development of Tehran Municipality, said: "As soon as the cause is determined, we will inform citizens of the information."
Mojtaba Yazdani, Deputy Director of Urban Services at Tehran Municipality, has also announced that all forces of Tehran Municipality, including the fire department, waste management, and urban services, have been assigned to investigate the causes of the odor in the capital.
The commander of the country's passive defense told the "Young Journalists' Club" that last time we suspected the smell of mercaptan gas, but the oil and gas company denied this: "The crisis organization also said that the origin of the smell was not related to the four gases we examined, including sulfur."
Alireza Jalali added that the Environmental Protection Organization is investigating the issue: "Their opinion is that it is due to a weather inversion and the initial effect of rainfall, but they are not sure."
Last January, an ammonia-like smell engulfed Tehran, with the epicenter reported to be around Imam Khomeini Airport. At that time, it was even rumored that the smell was due to the activity of the Damavand volcano, a burst sewer system in Enghelab Square, or damage to the Tehran refinery. All of these possibilities were ruled out without the source of the smell finally being identified. Anoushirvan Mohseni Bandpi, the governor of Tehran, had suggested that the chemical mercaptan had leaked into the open air.
Journalist Havad Heydarian wrote on Twitter: "I asked the deputy head of the Human Environment Department of the Environmental Organization and the director general of the Tehran Municipality's Environment Department about the source of Tehran's bad smell; the exact cause is unknown. There is no odor measurement laboratory operating in Tehran. The smell from last year was also not detected. There is speculation about the injection of the chemical mercaptan into city gas, which is not certain."
Source: DW
