Tabriz, South Azerbaijan, Sep 4
Isa Kalantari, the head of Iran’s environmental organization, admitted that Iranian authorities have known that the Lake Urmia dries up since 1998.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency during a meeting, referring to the situation of Lake Urmia and said:” In the year 1998, Dr. Javaheri, a hydrologist, told me that with the continuation of dam construction around the lake Urmia, the major part of the lake would dry till 2016.
Referring to the arrest of environmental activists, Isa Kalantari said several people are summoned as a model, banned from leaving, societies are also spectators. There is no specific plan and project for saving Urmia lake, unfortunately.
He also criticized the excessive withdrawal of renewable resources in the country and said that no country should consume more than 40% of renewable water resources, but we are taking 130%.
At the end of the meeting, Isa Kalantari stated that the misguided policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran caused the dryness of the Urmia Lake and no one is accountable for this issue.
