Possibility of Water Rationing for People in Tehran; Expert Warns About ‘Water Bankruptcy Stage’ in Iran
The CEO of Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company says that twenty percent of the capital’s residents consume water above the standard pattern, and this process will lead to what he called water “scheduling.”
IRNA news agency on Tuesday, Ordibehesht 21, published an interview with Mohammad Reza Bakhtiari, CEO of Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company, in which he warned, without using the term “rationing,” that current water consumption could lead to what he called water “scheduling.”
According to this IRNA report, in addition to “consumption above citizens’ standard pattern,” “a 50 percent decrease in rainfall in the country compared to last year” is also among the reasons for the worsening water situation in the capital and the possibility of water rationing.
This official’s warning in Tehran comes as some experts consider the situation more serious than what he stated.
Nikahang Kosar, water analyst and journalist, tells Voice of America that Iran’s water situation has gone beyond “crisis” and has reached a condition that this water expert calls “the water bankruptcy stage.”
Mr. Kosar says: “The reduction in water resources due to unjustified consumption in the agricultural sector – meaning consumption that has been excessive due to self-sufficiency and agricultural policies – has led to the current bankrupt situation. And just a few days ago, one of the water managers, the head of the large dams committee, stated that we are experiencing water bankruptcy, and this is due to poor management, not due to decreased rainfall. And this shows that the Islamic Republic has acted very poorly over these decades, and we are now seeing the consequences of this poor management more clearly.”
According to Mr. Kosar, this situation could have serious social and even political and security consequences. As in some countries around the world, water scarcity has been a driver for crises that have even led to physical violence.
Iran’s water crisis in recent years has caused dissatisfaction and both small and large protests. Voice of America has repeatedly reflected these protesting farmers’ complaints.
In nationwide protests in December 2017, the water crisis was one of the reasons for people’s protests, including in Qahderijan, which was met with violence by security and law enforcement forces and a number of protesting citizens were killed.
On Ordibehesht 4, 1400, Voice of America reported that the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Isfahan, by issuing a notice, prohibited any gathering under the title of demands in the agricultural sector and Zayandeh River without permission from the provincial security council.
Source: Voice of America
