Transferring water from the Caspian Sea to Semnan Province would destroy the pristine nature in the region and convert it to another industrial zone like Yazd and Isfahan that have been grappling with water shortages and associated problems for decades, says an environmental activist and a researcher at the Research Institute for Forests and Rangelands.
“Unlike other provinces where the environment has been deeply affected by unsustainable policies, Semnan so far has seen the least impact. But diverting water into the region will have dire long-term consequences,” Mohammad Darvish told Persian-language Tejarat Farda weekly in an interview.
Criticizing those who link unemployment to water shortages in the province (215km east of Tehran), Darvish noted that “traditional mindsets should change as developing (water intensive) industries is not the only way to create jobs.”
Semnan is and should remain a tourism and ecotourism hub and the budget ($650 million) to transfer water to the area can be allocated to non-polluting industries, he added.
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