Iran's Water Mismanagement Causes Land Subsiding In Southern Iran
Iran is facing an acute water shortage problem causing ground beneath the cities and towns to subside. Iran is facing the risk of land subsidence in the major cities including Tehran and Isfahan, as per a report published in DW. Reportedly, the ground beneath Tehran is sinking at the rate of 22 cm every year which is 7 times higher than the normally expected rate.
Experts have warned against the larger consequences of Iran’s water scarcity including social impacts as the water crisis is impacting half of the Iranian society. The landslide results from unstainable water consumption which endangers the country’s entire infrastructure, pipelines, power lines, and railroads.
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The Iranian authorities rely on rainwater to handle the situation but the mismanagement of rainwater caused heavy floods in the poor provinces of Sistan and Baluchistan. The dry soil can not absorb the water quickly and leads to flooding upon heavy rainfall.
The government is diverting water flows or building dams to manage the heavy rainwater, however, experts say it is only a short-term solution rather than a real solution. According to them, this could worsen the existing regional conflict over water and can undermine societal peace and cohesion.
Renowned Iranian sociologist Saeed Madani has warned about the consequences of climate change and its impact on Iran. He researched how drought and water shortages gave rise to protests in Iran’s south.
The unsustainable consumption of water in agriculture, industries, and households are the factors exacerbating the problem, an expert said. The depletion of reservoirs is one of the main reasons for land subsidence in various provinces in the country.
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This has also given rise to increasing numbers of climate refugees in the past few years, the Iranian Environment Agency statistics published. People are forced to move to northern provinces and cities in Tehran due to climate change and water shortage issues in central and sourthern Iran. Over one fourth of the farmers have lost livelihood due to the drought conditions in the past seven years.
Iran has historically faced low precipitation conditions and the Iranian government’s environmental mismanagement has resulted in the disappearnece of Lake Urmia, once the largest lake in West Asia. This has also led to widespread protests in Tebriz. Iranian authorities arrested several environmentalist on the charges of espionage for the US and UK governments.
