Al-Ahwaz's water crisis
The issue of drought and water diversion in Al-Ahwaz has not
left the headlines in Iran with the media focus on the destruction of fertile
lands and the shortage of drinking water for residents. The impact of dam construction on the livelihoods and
welfare of Ahwazi Arabs forced the Energy Minister to visit Ahwaz for crisis
talks with the provincial governor as public unease and opposition grows.
Energy Minister Majid Namjoo has played down the importance
of the Ahwaz water crisis and dismissed local opposition, telling members of
the Iranian parliament for the region that water was a national not regional
concern. He added that two local representatives of Khuzestan were on the Water
Supreme Council and could raise any regional concerns. While denying there were
any problems in the water diversion project, he stated that sewerage works were
being built in 14 of the province's cities.
However, Jam-e Jam Online reported that members of
parliament for Khuzestan province are not optimistic over the solutions offered
by the central government. MPs have repeatedly warned of a brewing ecological
disaster caused by man-made drought that could prove catastrophic to regions
beyond the province. Mohammareh (Khormashahr) member of parliament Abdullah
Sameri told the news agency that the Karoon was "dying" due to dam
construction reducing water flow and rising pollution from industries,
hospitals, sugarcane plantations and agricultural drainage.
Sameri added that cities such as Ahwaz, Khafajieh
(Susangerd), Hamidieh, Dezful, Falahieh (Shadegan) and Mohammareh (Khuramshahr)
are in a desperate state with water shortages causing rapid transformation of
farmland into salt marshes. Mohammareh (Khuramshahr) has seen its agricultural
exports collapse as a result, he claimed. His complaints come after he Head of
the Environment Protection Agency Mohammadi Zadehapproved the discharge of
waste water from sugarcane plantations into the marshlands of Khuzestan.
Meanwhile, MP for Hendijan city Habib Aghajari said the
problem of water supply is even worse in cities like Hendijan, Omidiyeh and
Bandar Mahshahr due to the decline in the level of water the Jarahi and Zoherh
rivers due to dam construction.
Mehr News reported that the drying of the Karkheh river, the
Hamidyeh district's source of irrigation water, has destroyed around 17,000ha
of crops as the government diverts river waters from the Arab populated area to
cash crop production in Persian-majority provinces elsewhere in Iran. Grain,
poultry and fish farming in Hamidyeh have all been hit by low river water flow,
which is also causing a shortage of drinking water. The cost has been both
environmental and economic, with many Arab farmers left without a livelihood
and high levels of personal debt. Many are migrating to the cities for work.
The once fertile land of Hamidyeh city is now threatened with permanent
desertification.
Elsewhere in Al-Ahwaz, drinking water is becoming
increasingly scarce. According to Fars News Agency, residents in Montazeri town
in Falahieh (Shadigan) have access to drinking water from 10pm to 6am every
night. Tap water is routinely cut off during the day, despite hot summers when
temperatures exceed 50 Celsius and humidity rises to over 90 per cent. The
extreme hot weather causes water-born bacteria to breed at a fast rate and
cannot be drunk and residents are forced to buy bottled water. Residents allege
that no action has been taken to replace or repair the ageing and inadequate water
supply networks since the 1979 revolution.
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