Central Iran in critical condition because of water shortage
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.21
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The central part of Iran is in critical condition because of the water shortage, said Iranian deputy energy minister Alireza Daemi, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on October 21.
Daemi said the situation caused a migration from the mentioned parts of the country.
"By 2021, water resources will be very limited except for western parts of the country and the Caspian Sea shores," he said.
Previously, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that the administration has decided to allocate at least $2 billion every year to deal with water shortage crisis in the country. He also said the officials will stick to this strategy in the upcoming years to solve the water crisis in the republic.
Iran is located in an arid zone, and there is very little hope for the water shortage situation to improve in the next few years.
The drought of 1992-2002 in Iran caused a major blow to agriculture. There were quotas imposed for fresh water in several cities, including the capital Tehran.
Previous reports indicated that there are over 500 cities in Iran that struggle with water shortage in the country.
Iran's total annual water consumption is approximately 93 billion cubic meters, out of which about 92 percent is used in agriculture (86 billion cubic meters), 6.6 percent in municipality (6.18 billion cubic meters), and 1.2 percent in industry (1.12 billion cubic meters), according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO).
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