Azerbaijan, Baku, Apr.15/ Trend G.Mehdi/
The longest water supply pipeline in Iran, to the length of 762 kilometers, will be built aiming to supply potable water to five large cities and 11 small cities along the Persian Gulf coasts, IRNA reported.
Preliminary studies were completed in 1995 and executive operations started in the same year.
To date, 1.8 trillion rials (about $146 million) has been invested in the project, but the project is estimated to cost 3 trillion rials to complete.
Over 1.5 million people in the region will be benefited from healthy drinking water.
Water shortage has always been a pressing problem in Iran due to its arid and semi-arid climate, and droughts.
As international sanctions clamp down on the country, this issue has gained increased importance.
In 2011 Iran started constructing 134 dams with more than 13 billion cubic meters of reservoir's flood control capacity per year.