Ghasem Saedi, a member of Iran’s parliament representing a district in the oil-rich Khuzestan province has said that people wait in lines to buy water amid serious shortages in the region.

Water shortages have hit most of Iran this year as precipitation decreased in winter and spring, leading most dams and reservoirs barely holding any water.

In an interview with the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) on Monday Saedi said that water shortage has led to a crisis “worse than Covid-19” and rivers in Khuzestan have dried up leaving tanker supplies as the only option in many villages and towns.

People in Khuzestan are particularly angry as their province supplies most of Iran’s oil and oil income while many live in poverty.

Officials announced on Sunday that 8,000 villages in Iran depend on water transported by tankers. Last year, 5,500 villages depended on this method of water supply.

Iran has been experiencing a decade of droughts that have depleted natural reservoirs and ground water. Critics say that government’s water mismanagement has contributed to the crisis which has also led to environmental disasters.

The Hoor-al-Azim wetland in Khuzestan, bordering Iraq, has gone dry where thousands of fishes have died, and other wildlife is threatened. Officials say the reason for the disaster is lack of water flow from a dam that is also depleted from draught.

Source » iranintl