Iran resolves water issue in southern cities

Freshwater has been piped into the southern Iranian cities of Abadan and Khorramshahr, which had been grappling with a bout of shortage.

Qolamreza Shariati, the governor general of Khuzestan Province, where the cities are located, said the shortage had been resolved on Friday, ISNA reported.

The situation was addressed under a project dubbed Qadir 2 through which drinking water was transferred first to Khorramshahr and then Abadan.

The water needs of the two cities used to be provided from the Karoun and Bahmanshir rivers, Shariati said. “However, the water taken from the two rivers would be reduced to a minimum now that Qadir 2 has been implemented,” he added.

The official said this was due to quality concerns as the water running through the rivers contained high levels of salinity.

Shariati said he had paid a visit to the water-treatment plant in Khorramshahr, describing the quality of the treated water as satisfactory.

Protests over water shortage and its salinity turned violent in Khorramshahr and Abadan last week, with demonstrators damaging public property.

Local authorities said the initial protest over the issue of water salinity had been peaceful but that several “troublemakers” had taken advantage of the situation to wreak havoc, destroying public property at an intersection.