Tehran Governor: We Prevented 97% of Tehran's Farms from Being Irrigated with Sewage

About five months after the head of the Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Commission of the Parliament announced that 60% of Tehran's sewage is left untreated, contaminating groundwater and agricultural lands in the south of the capital, the Governor of Tehran announced on Tuesday that 97% of the farms on the outskirts of Tehran have been prevented from being irrigated with sewage. According to a report by the House of the Nation news agency on Tuesday (December 29), Hossein Hashemi made these remarks in response to a question about the irrigation of farms on the outskirts of Tehran with sewage-contaminated water. He added that since the beginning of the eleventh government, "the entire city of Tehran had a sewage problem that has been resolved with the actions taken." Hashemi stated that "with the planning carried out, a sewage treatment plant is inaugurated in Tehran every two months," adding that "this issue is of great importance, as its effluent can be used in agriculture." His remarks come at a time when on August 4, Ali Mohammad Sha'eri, the head of the Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Commission of the Parliament, stated that "only 40% of Tehran's sewage is treated," adding that "unfortunately, 60% of the sewage is left untreated, contaminating groundwater and agricultural lands in the south of the capital." On the other hand, Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, the Minister of Health, also stated that "sewage is still being used for irrigating agricultural products in the outskirts of Tehran and three other provinces." According to him, "2,400 hectares of farms in Alborz, West Azerbaijan, Tehran, and Kermanshah are irrigated with untreated sewage." In May of this year, Rahmatollah Hafezi, the head of the Health and Environment Commission of the Tehran City Council, stated that "farms in southern Tehran are still being irrigated with raw sewage water," and "the Ministry of Energy and other responsible officials should be held accountable for this issue." Earlier, reports had been published by some members of Parliament regarding the irrigation of rice and vegetable fields in the south of Tehran and Varamin with sewage. According to Abed Fattahi, a member of the Health Commission of Parliament, many intestinal and gastrointestinal diseases, including "salmonella," "campylobacter," and "amoeba," are transmitted through sewage water to vegetables and then to individuals through eating those vegetables. The ILNA news agency reported earlier this year that water scarcity and low costs were among the reasons for irrigating agricultural lands with sewage. According to this news agency, the cost of using well water for three hectares over a year is 3.5 million tomans, while the cost of using sewage water for the same amount of land is only one million tomans. In another part of his remarks, the Governor of Tehran stated that by controlling "surface waters for treatment," there is currently "no problem regarding water quality, and the issue of water supply {for drinking in Tehran} has also been resolved." This comes at a time when on December 23 of this year, Mehdi Chamran, the head of the Tehran City Council, warned of the depletion of the city's water reserves, stating that "Tehran has no more water." The Governor of Tehran also requested an increase in the city's budget for the next year, declaring issues such as water, sewage, the environment, air quality, and rail transport as priorities for Tehran in budget allocation. Tehran, with a population of over 13 million, is considered one of the most polluted megacities in the world, and various governments have so far been unable to control and manage the factors contributing to air pollution in Tehran and other megacities in Iran.