Protest Gathering in Borazjan Against Drinking Water Shortage

ILNA news agency reported that following the intensification of water scarcity issues in most provinces of Iran, gatherings were held by the people of Borazjan at the entrances of the city. Ali Akbar Fatemi, the representative of Bushehr province in the Supreme Council of Provinces, told ILNA that on the morning of Sunday, July 31, a number of people from Borazjan gathered in the city center to protest against the shortage of drinking water, which led to police intervention. He noted that the protesters lit a fire at the entrance of Borazjan as a sign of protest, causing 'traffic disruptions for a while, which ended after the intervention of the governor and officials of the water company and the police, restoring calm to the city.' Ali Akbar Fatemi did not mention how the police interacted with the protesters in Borazjan. In this context, Javad Laghmanzadeh, the political, security, and social deputy of the Dashtestan governorate, told the state news agency IRNA, 'The entrance road to Borazjan, which was blocked by some citizens in protest of the continued water shortage for 30 minutes, has been reopened with the cooperation of the people, and traffic is now proceeding on this route.' This official mentioned that the number of protesters was about 80 and added that they were residents of the Vali-e Asr and Pardis neighborhoods of Borazjan. The representative of Bushehr province in the Supreme Council of Provinces referred to the officials' promises to address the drinking water shortage in Borazjan and added: 'The officials of Borazjan promised to soon address the water crisis and will resolve the water needs of the county by bringing water from other areas.' According to IRNA, quoting the political, security, and social deputy of the Dashtestan governorate, Borazjan has been divided into four regions for water distribution for the past 20 days, and each day, one-fourth of the city's population can access water. This comes at a time when IRNA previously reported that 'the shortage and improper distribution of water' has disrupted the daily lives of the people of Borazjan since Farvardin (the first month of the Iranian calendar). Residents of Borazjan also held two gatherings on July 16 and 17 in protest of 'water outages and rationing.' According to IRNA, 350 people at the July 17 gathering demanded practical action from officials to resolve the water shortage issue. IRNA did not mention the slogans of the protesters, but some videos circulated on social media show that they chanted: 'Death to the dictator' and 'Don't be afraid, don't be afraid - we are all together.' According to the local website 'Fekr Shahr,' following 'days of water scarcity,' 'thousands' of Borazjan residents gathered on July 16. This website reported a significant presence of Dashtestan police at the gathering and noted that some local officials, including the Friday prayer leader of Borazjan and governorate officials, came to the gathering site, where they faced protests from the people and were forced to leave. Earlier, some residents of the city of Vahdatieh had blocked the main road connecting Bushehr and Shiraz for several hours in early July in protest of water shortages. The gatherings in Borazjan followed street protests in Khorramshahr and Abadan against salty and interrupted water supplies. Following the protests in these two cities, 10 people were arrested and 25 others were identified for charges such as 'inciting people to riot and exploiting public demands.' Reports indicated that several were injured during the protests in Khorramshahr. According to Isa Kalantari, head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, currently, over 70% of the country's population is facing 'water scarcity,' and the per capita water availability this solar year has surpassed critical conditions. Previously, Reza Ardakanian, Iran's Minister of Energy, had stated that the year 1397 (2018) was the hardest year in terms of water supply in the country in the last half-century and warned that 334 cities with a population of 35 million are currently in a state of water stress.