NCRI Iran News | Society
Iran: Lake Urmia (Sixth-Largest Saltwater Lake on Earth) Is in Danger
- Wednesday, 15 March 2017 02:23
NCRI - “Lake Urmia is close to entering a dangerous state, so that a significant part of the lake has dried up while harvesting salt and truck traffic there have led to emerging salt dust in the region”, says the Iranian regime’s MP ‘Mohammad-Esmaeil Saeed’ on Monday March 13.
The Parliament’s ‘Khane Mellat’ news agency has quoted Saeed as saying that “from the beginning of the (Persian) year up to the beginning of this (Persian) month, no funds for water and sewer treatment have been dedicated to the province, with which to collect and treat wastewater coming from the cities around Lake Urmia, which is essential for restoration of the lake.”
In the meantime, Nader Ghazipour, another regime’s MP, warned over “50 percent of untreated sewage entering Lake Urmia and 500 truckloads of salt harvested from the lakebed each day.”
“Only 50 percent of Urmia’s domestic and industrial wastewater is treated, with the rest pouring into the lake untreated”, he added.
Earlier, Masoud Tajrishi, director of Planning and Integration Office, part of Lake Urmia Restoration Headquarters, had criticized Rouhani’s government for not fulfilling its commitments, while speaking during the 16th International Environment Exhibition on December 29, 2016. “Our contractors have abandoned the project from September, and we’re gonna miss the chance to restore the lake unless financial resources are provided”, said Tajrishi.
In his interview with state-run ILNA news agency on January 2, 2017, member of Lake Urmia Restoration Headquarters had warned, over pesticides used in farmlands around Lake Urmia vaporizing into the air and residents’ lungs, as well as increased level of UV radiation in the region which in turn could lead to increased skin and eye diseases.
Experts believe that with Lake Urmia drying up, millions of people’s lives will be in danger.
A number of rallies were held over the past years in Urmia and Tabriz, in protest against drying up of Lake Urmia.
