Sistan and Baluchistan was swept away by water, leaving the authorities in a state of sleep!

Amidst the bitterness of these days, floods have also hit Sistan and Baluchestan, swallowing up the property and livelihood of the deprived people of this region. In addition to the devastation left behind, the provincial Environmental Protection Department is warning about the danger of crocodiles escaping from the ponds.

In the wake of the tragedies and painful events that the people of Iran have been grappling with in recent days, the turn of the flood has come. Sistan and Baluchestan has been hit by a devastating flood that, according to officials in the south of the province, cut off communication with more than 500 villages in the first hours. According to published reports, about 350 million cubic meters of water per second has overflowed from the two large Zirdan and Pikhin dams due to the heavy rain and flooding.

Provincial officials say that this volume of water has reached the Dashtiari, Plan and Bahuklat regions and villages are under siege, the Konarak and Zarabad regions are under water, and communication routes are cut off in places that are not under siege. Ahmad Ali Mohabati, the governor of Sistan and Baluchestan, says that despite the efforts made, about 400 villages are still under siege.

Meanwhile, the Sistan and Baluchestan Department of Environmental Protection has issued a statement warning of the possibility of gandoos (short-nosed crocodiles) escaping from ponds. The statement states that as rivers and dams in the region overflow, there is a possibility of crocodiles escaping and being caught in the raging waves of water, taking them away from their original habitat. The Sistan and Baluchestan Department of Environmental Protection has called on people to refrain from traveling along the banks of several rivers and places where stagnant water accumulates, and announced that the department's conservation unit is on standby to "prevent tragic incidents and possible wildlife attacks."

Floods have engulfed Sistan and Baluchestan in the past three days, while the majority of news and analysis in recent days has been devoted to the tragedy of the downing of the Ukrainian plane, which killed 176 people on board, and of course, to the protests that are taking place in various cities following the revelation of the main cause of the plane crash.

According to the governor of Sistan and Baluchestan, with the loss of land connections and the destruction of bridges, aid was being provided by boat in some areas, but as the conditions worsened, other boats were unable to move. Referring to the extent of damage to homes, agricultural lands, and facilities, infrastructure, and communication routes, the governor spoke of the need for national support to compensate for the damages.

The governor of Sistan and Baluchestan province is emphasizing the need to send helicopters to the region to continue providing aid and “at least providing food to the people.” The official said in an interview with local media that “only one helicopter from the Bandar Abbas Red Crescent has arrived in the region, and helicopters from the provincial capital have not been able to enter the flooded area due to unfavorable weather conditions.”

Referring to the power outage, the inability to bake bread, the unsatisfactory housing conditions, and the lack of assistance to the people, this provincial official expressed hope that more support would be provided to help the flood-affected people of this province and to control the flood.

Number of victims and extent of damage

Some provincial officials say the extent of flood damage and victims is unknown, while the Red Crescent reports three deaths in Hormozgan and one missing in Sistan and Baluchestan. The governor of Sistan and Baluchestan says that so far there has been no loss of life except for one in the Sarbaz River. The director of the Zahedan Emergency Medical Center reports the death of a 5-year-old girl due to falling debris in the Saravan Valley.

But on social media, users are describing the scale of the flood disaster in Sitan and Balochistan even more, writing about the possibility of an increase in the number of flood victims. The severity of the flooding in some areas of the province has been so severe that people have taken refuge in the heights of trees to be safe from the flood, spending the night on the branches of trees under heavy rain.

Faeqeh Raghi, a journalist active in the province, said in an interview with local networks that most of the farms were flooded, people lost their livestock, and the houses of the people who lived in the houses were washed away. According to this journalist, the people of Balochistan say that many have not received aid from the Red Crescent and are in need of medical, food, water, and hygiene supplies. She says that the villages of Balochistan have had problems with water and electricity cuts before, and they are currently experiencing water, electricity, and internet cuts, and mobile phone and internet connections have also been cut.

Raghi also spoke about the blocked roads and the difficulty of getting patients and pregnant women to medical centers. Other reports also describe the problems that have arisen in the provision of services to patients due to heavy rainfall. The head of a hospital in Zahak County reported that the roof of a room in the “CCU” section of the hospital collapsed. Navid Borhanzai, a citizen of this province, active in the fields of tourism and handicrafts, and of course active on Twitter, writes about the situation in this flooded area and depicts a corner of the disaster that the people of this area are struggling with.

Many media and social activists in this part of Iran are asking for help from the people to provide relief to the flood victims, asking the public not to forget Sistan and Baluchestan amid the bitter events of these days. However, the voice of the people of Sistan and Baluchestan asking for help has been lost in the shadow of the plane crash disaster and the subsequent protests against the authorities’ cover-up. The Hamdali newspaper writes, “Even the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation has not paid much attention to the flood issue in this province and is busy with its own justification items about the recent events.”

Did the flood come?

In addition to the severe deprivations that the people of this province are facing, and the lack of voice of the people of this region seeking help from Iran and their fellow countrymen, the question that arises, as always and in every disaster, is whether this crisis could have been prevented or at least reduced with proper management? Did the flood in Sistan and Baluchestan come by surprise?

Maryam Taleshi, a reporter for Iran Newspaper, wrote on Twitter, "Not all of the water that is currently flooding Dashtiyari is due to rain. Part of it is the result of the overflow of the Chabahar Zirdan Dam. Despite warnings of heavy rainfall two weeks ago, the dam water has not been released, which has increased the severity of the flood."

The representative of the people of Zabol in the Islamic Consultative Assembly has criticized the lack of preventive measures that caused the flood to cause great damage to the people of the province. Habibollah Dehmardeh said in a verbal reminder at today's open session of the Assembly: "This flood was predictable." According to him, the flood has caused great damage to the province of Sistan and Baluchestan due to the lack of infrastructure. The representative of the people of Zabol says, "According to the approvals of the Crisis Headquarters, the rivers should have been dredged and preventive measures should have been taken to prevent the flood, but not only has no action been taken, but heavy damage has been caused to the people. Apparently, prevention does not mean anything to some officials."

Navid Burhanzahi's short tweet is a testament to the prevention and management of crises by officials in the midst of such incidents: "The flood washed away the plains, putting the officials to sleep!"

Source: DW