Tehran, IRNA
-- The United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Islamic Republic
of Iran, Francesco Bastagli, Tuesday warned that the drought in
Iran, which will continue into its third year, could cause widespread
water shortages, loss to the agriculture and livestock sector
and to the wildlife.
"Recent
precipitation figures are cause for serious concern," said
Bastagli adding, "The U.N. is in regular contact with national
authorities and is monitoring the situation closely."
The warning
comes in the wake of an announcement last week by Rasoul Zargar,
Deputy Minister of Energy for water resources who predicted water
crises for 12 of the country's 28 provinces.
Precipitation
figures indicate that the drought will continue in eastern, southern
and central provinces including Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormuzgan,
Bushehr, Kerman and vast regions in Isfahan, Khorasan and Fars,
said a press release issued by the U.N. Information Center (UNIC)
here on Tuesday.
While the
drought this year is affecting fewer regions, its impact will
be far greater in communities which have not recovered from the
losses of the two previous years, it said.
According
to Zargar, reserves in Tehran's main sources of potable water,
the Karaj, Latian and Lar dams, in addition to Sefid Roud (Rasht),
Zayandeh Roud (Isfahan), and Doroudzan (Shiraz) are only 50 percent
of resource available at the same time last year.
Recurring
droughts are a harsh reality in this part of the world, where
13 of the past 20 years have been drought years. "Our priority
is to support the government's efforts in finding long-term solutions
to this recurring phenomenon, including clearly defined strategies
for the conservation and use of the nation's precious water resources,"
said Bastagli.
As part of
ongoing U.N. efforts, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
last week conducted a high-level mission to evaluate the drought's
implications on food security. The mission also looked into establishing
early warning systems in Iran based on FAO's Global Information
and Early Warning Systems (GIEWS) for food and agriculture.
A second FAO
mission will assist the Islamic Republic of Iran with the preparation
of a project outlining a national strategy on drought preparedness
and mitigation.
Later this
year, UNDP-Iran will host a meeting of governmental and U.N. experts
and officials from Afghanistan, India, Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
The meeting which is scheduled to take place in Yazd in late August
will provide a venue to exchange information among the countries
in the sub-region to promote coordination and to identify practical
measures for drought management.
Last July,
the U.N. fielded an inter-agency mission to evaluate the impact
of a widespread drought. Based on the mission's findings the U.N.
helped mobilize some dlrs 3.2 million to support national drought
mitigation efforts.
According
to the mission's report, the year 2000 was the second drought
year in Iran, affecting 18 of the country's 28 provinces. The
drought affected 60 percent of the rural population. More than
12 million people living in urban and rural area were experiencing
a shortage of potable water.
Crops in 8.4
million hectares of orchards and irrigated and non-irrigated farms
were lost. Some 9.6 million hectares of forest and woodlands were
endangered, the UNIC press release said.
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