People of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari gather to protest "water shortage" two days after the big protest in Isfahan
Protesting people from Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari gathered on the streets of Shahrekord, including in front of the governor's office, on Sunday, November 20, to protest against projects to transfer water from this province to other provinces.
According to videos recorded and released from today's rally, one protester shouts, "These people won't stand up again," noting that provincial officials have made promises a hundred times but have not kept them.
According to this protester, 300 villages in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari are in dire need of drinking water.
In addition, people chanted slogans at the rally such as "Where are you, governor? You must come out," "Here are four neighborhoods, taking away water is impossible," and "Today our water, tomorrow our soil."
With climate change and reduced rainfall in recent years, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari has been hit by a water shortage crisis. Reports indicate that at least 200 towns and villages in the province are supplied with water by tankers.
Unfulfilled promises by the authorities, including the incompleteness of the Ben-Borojen water transfer project, which was designed to provide water to half of the province's residents, have led to protests by the people of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.
Protesters also demanded a halt to water transfer projects, including the Beheshtabad Tunnel, Golab, and the Kohrang 3 Dam and Tunnel.
Some of these protesters say that if water is to be transferred from this province to desert provinces such as Isfahan and Yazd, it should only be for drinking purposes.
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari authorities have put water transfer projects on the agenda at a time when half of the people of this province are facing problems in obtaining drinking water, and farmers in the region are also struggling with a water shortage crisis.
Meanwhile, Isfahan has also witnessed farmers' gatherings since November 7 to protest the cutting of water fees and the drying up of the Zayandeh River. These protests gradually became more widespread with the support of other groups, until on Friday, November 18, the largest gathering in recent days was held with the participation of thousands of Isfahan residents.
During this rally, many people chanted protest slogans on the dry bed of the Zayandeh River.
Following the water shortage crisis in many regions of Iran, including Khuzestan, which has made access to drinking water difficult for citizens, and has also put agriculture and livestock farming, and the overall livelihoods of households in these regions, at serious risk, several cities in Khuzestan province witnessed public protests in July of this year.
These nightly protests first began in the eastern cities of Khuzestan and then spread to other cities and even provinces.
Government officials in Iran have repeatedly cited drought as the main cause of the water crisis in the country, announcing a decrease in rainfall in 2019 and a continuation of this situation this year.
Source: Radio Farda
