Tehran: A City on the Brink of Collapse

The head of the Environment Committee of Tehran City Council, Mohammad Haqani, stated in an interview with ILNA on Sunday, April 8, that Tehran's situation has moved beyond social damage to a state of warning. He criticized the government's approach to the issues of drug addicts and homeless individuals, emphasizing that the government should delegate the responsibility of combating social harms to the Tehran municipality. He further noted that Tehran's natural biological resources have been depleted, declaring the city to be on the brink of collapse and death. Haqani mentioned that legally, the responsibility for addressing beggars, homeless individuals, and drug addicts does not fall on the municipality but rather on the Welfare Organization. He deemed the sporadic and subjective handling of drug addicts and homeless individuals as a mistake, stating that providing them with shelter, clothing, and food only to abandon them later is ineffective. He called for empowering this group and creating job opportunities, adding that they also need housing and shelter in the next phase. Haqani also pointed out that the government should assign the task of combating social harms to the Tehran municipality. He noted that the Welfare Organization, which previously operated under the municipality with 1,800 specialists, was later separated from the Tehran municipality. Mehrdad Darvishpour, a sociologist residing in Sweden, agreed with the statement that Tehran is a city on the brink of collapse, citing Mumbai as a potentially worse example, where he observed the municipality's loss of hope in repairing and changing the city. He expressed concern that a similar loss of hope may exist in Tehran as well.