City Councils Urged to Prioritize Environment

Incoming city councils have been called on by senior government officials to prioritize environmental issues and devise policies that benefit future generations.

During a meeting earlier this week with a number of newly-elected members of city councils, Deputy Interior Minister Ali Asghar Ahmadi urged councilors to review project proposals diligently.

"We cannot approve any project for the sake of development," he was quoted as saying by ILNA.

"Many projects are used as pretext to get big loans; often development is just an excuse."

Ahmadi called on new members of city and rural councils to ensure all proposals have passed environmental assessments and meet strict criteria set out by the Department of Environment.

Separately, Mohammad Hossein Bazgir, the head of Tehran's DOE office, told ISNA that the incoming city council "is expected" to pay particular attention to waste management schemes.

"The Tehran Comprehensive Waste Management Plan has been held up at the municipality for over a year because they say they don't have the money to implement it," he said.

"We expect the city council to address this problem, as thousands of tons of wastes are produced in Tehran every day."

Daily household waste generation in the city of Tehran, home to over 8.5 million people, is between 7,000 and 8,000 tons. Add to that the construction waste amounting to more than 50,000 tons daily.

According to Bazgir, 90% of the city’s wastes are disposed with little regard to regulations. To make matters worse, 70% of Tehran's wastes are recyclable.

The incoming city council is expected to hold its first session on August 24.