The Department of Environment announced plans to install 16 dust monitoring stations in southern and southeastern regions of the country. "The provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman, South Khorasan and Hormozgan are gripped by sand and dust storms for much of the year while the existing observation stations are hardly sufficient in proportion with the area and population of the regions," director of the DOE's monitoring office Shina Ansari said in a talk with ISNA.
Unfortunately, she added, each of these provinces has at most two stations at present which do not meet their needs.
Based on a directive of the High Council of Health and Nutrition Security, cities with populations over 300,000 are required to have at least one air quality measurement system.
Moreover, as per Article 3 of the Clean Air Law, air quality data from monitoring stations across counties are required for issuing emergency alerts and other management decisions at times of crisis, Ansari explained. "The 16 systems that have been purchased by the DOE in tenders have two analyzers for PM2.5 and PM10 (particulate matters smaller than 2.5µg and 10µg)," she said.
Recent Distress
The southeastern regions of Iran are highly prone to sand and dust storms that have been exacerbated in recent years due to the desiccation of water bodies. The 120-day winds that sweep through the areas, particularly the Sistan region in the north of Sistan-Baluchestan Province, between May and September also add to the local communities' woes.
The DOE's announcement comes following a recent incident in which the concentration of dust particles in Sistan began to grow on Saturday and reached 60 times the standard level on Sunday sending nearly 250 residents to medical and emergency centers for respiratory, eye and heart problems.
According to data from the provincial meteorological organization, the density of dust particles was 9,075 micrograms per cubic meter on Sunday morning, 60 times higher than the standard threshold of 150 µg/m3.
"Strong winds at 104 kilometer per hour and thick clouds of dust in the region led to the closure of all state and non-state organizations in Zabol, Zahak, Hirmand, Hamoun and Nimrouz [on Sunday]," Abdorrahman Shahnavazi, director of the crisis management office at Sistan-Baluchestan's General Governorate, told IRNA.
The official noted that 46 of the patients were hospitalized and the rest were dismissed after receiving outpatient treatment. He advised the elderly, children and those with respiratory diseases to avoid unnecessary outdoor activity.
"Given the dry conditions of Hamoun wetlands that give rise to the phenomenon of dust storms, the people of Sistan often refer to medical centers for different health problems chiefly respiratory and eye ailments," he regretted.
The strong winds across dust storm hotspots of the northern Sistan-Baluchestan are predicted to continue until the end of the week with wind speeds forecast to exceed 100 km/h, an official with the provincial meteorological organization said.
"The storms will gather strength on Monday to the extent that flights at Zabol and Zahedan airports are likely to be disrupted," Ali Mollashahi said, adding that the visibility in connecting roads between Zabol, Nahbandan, Zahedan and Iranshahr as well as Bam in Kerman Province is expected to decrease as a result of the dust.
The region of Sistan, which sits in the north of the province, covers five counties namely Zabol, Zahak, Hamoun, Hirmand and Nimrouz and.
