A member of parliament warns about the consequences of the drying up of Qom Salt Lake
Jabbar Kouchakinejad, Vice Chairman of the Environment and Sustainable Development Faction of the Parliament, warned on Tuesday, May 2, about "salt rains due to the drying up of the Qom Salt Lake."
In an interview with the Khaneh-e-Mellat news agency, affiliated with the parliament, Mr. Kouchkinezhad issued this warning and called on the Environmental Organization to prevent "the situation of Qom Salt Lake from becoming critical," adding: "If lakes that contain salt dry up, the salts in them will be suspended in the air like fine dust."
According to him, if the Qom Salt Lake dries up, "the environment of neighboring provinces, including Tehran," will be at risk, and this phenomenon "will double the likelihood of salty rains."
The MP added: "In the event of salty rains, all the lands in the affected provinces will become salt marshes," and called on the Environmental Organization to take action to protect the ecosystem of this lake.
Qom Salt Lake, like many wetlands and lakes in Iran, is experiencing a water shortage crisis.
Last Wednesday, a national conference titled "The Salt Lake Crisis and the Dust Phenomenon in the Central Basin of Iran" was held in Qom to examine this issue.
According to IRNA, Jafar Biglo, head of the Institute of Geography at the University of Tehran, warned at the conference that "the drying up of the salt lake will cause the spread of salt dust."
Salt Lake is located in the eastern region of Qom, between the three provinces of Qom, Semnan, and Isfahan, and is considered the largest seasonal and offshore lake in Iran, covering an area of about 200,000 hectares.
This lake was completely filled with water in past decades through the Karaj, Jajrud, Shur, Qomrud, and Qarachay rivers, but it has now become one of the active centers of fine dust in the region.
Previously, Ahmad Shafi'i, deputy director of the Qom Environmental Protection Department, had announced on August 2, 2016, the crisis of the shrinking size of Qom Salt Lake, the disappearance of villages within a 50-kilometer radius of the lake, and the progress of this crisis towards the city of Qom.
Mr. Shafiei had said that "11 important villages in this area have been deserted and a number of others are being managed by water supply, and if the situation continues like this, the remaining villages will also be deserted."
Water scarcity and drought threaten many regions of Iran. In recent years, many of Iran's wetlands, rivers, and lakes have either dried up or are at risk of drying up.
Excessive exploitation of underground aquifers and improper management of water resources have also added to Iran's problems.
Issa Kalantari, the former Minister of Agricultural Jihad in Iran, has warned that continuing the current trend “threatens the life and civilization of Iran.”
Source: Radio Farda
