Abdolreza Saadat Mir-Moghaddam, the Director-General of Geodesy and Land Surveying at the Iranian National Mapping Organization, has announced the expansion of land subsidence into cities. He stated that this phenomenon is progressing in cities like Isfahan and Arak.
Mir-Moghaddam also noted that land subsidence in Iran is currently five times the global average. Many provinces, including Markazi and Hamedan provinces, as well as 300 plains in Iran, are facing land subsidence crises.
He emphasized that in some of Iran’s plains, the situation has entered a critical phase, creating “sinkholes.”
The state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper reported on the subsidence crisis in Isfahan. There are neighborhoods in Isfahan where all buildings have developed cracks, and one can pass their hand through them. These buildings have a short lifespan, and only 10 or 20 years have passed since their construction.
The newspaper emphasized that subsidence has not only affected historical sites but also residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and urban infrastructure.
Ali Beytollahi, a member of the scientific board of the Research Center for Roads and Urban Planning, stated in March 2022 that about 11% of Iran’s land area is at risk of land subsidence, and these areas include nearly 49% of Iran’s population.
The newspaper Javan also addressed the issue of land subsidence in Iran. The report emphasized that “this number is alarming” and pointed out cities like Isfahan that have a more critical situation.
Without mentioning the role of the military institution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in dam construction projects in recent decades, the newspaper attributed the main cause of this alarming phenomenon and its rapid acceleration to incorrect policies in the past three decades regarding water and soil management.
Eisa Bozorgzadeh, the Director-General of the “Integrated Water Resources Planning and Budgeting Office” of the Iranian Water Resources Management Company, announced on December 26, 2023, the emergence of signs of subsidence in 359 plains in Iran and stated that currently, more than 70% of the plains are facing water problems, and a significant number of them are also experiencing subsidence issues.
Uncontrolled extraction of groundwater and negligence in protecting environmental resources have led to subsidence in most areas of the country. In fact, in July 2023, the Fars News Agency reported that the terrifying record of land subsidence in some areas of our country has reached more than 100 times higher than international standards, and the situation is declared critical in many provinces, including Yazd, to the extent that these sinkholes have reached a few hundred meters from people’s homes.
If there is a popular government in Iran, the water crisis will undoubtedly be resolved, and the first and most accessible way to invest in the agriculture sector. Mechanizing Iran’s agriculture with drip irrigation system and pressurized system will save a lot of water. For example, in Persian Gulf countries, there is not even a seasonal river or a lake. The water of cities such as Dubai, which is located in a desert much drier than the deserts of Iran, is supplied by the Persian Gulf. Therefore, it is possible to invest in the water sector and save the land of Iran from extinction and destruction.
But the regime’s priorities are to acquire atomic bombs, export terrorism and fundamentalism, and develop ballistic missiles. There are thousands of villages that are currently supplied with drinking water by tankers and millions of Iranians are forced to leave their cities and villages and go to the slums or large cities due to lack of water, and the regime has not done nothing for them.