Shiraz Experiencing Good Air Quality

Air quality in Shiraz, the capital of Fars Province, has been the best on record this year, among all the Iranian metropolises, a senior official of the Department of Environment said.

Speaking to IRNA, Nabiollah Moradi, the interim chief of the provincial office of DOE, said that during the first five months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), the city saw 86 excellent and 63 good days as defined in the World Health Organization’s air quality index.

The city appears to be experiencing much more healthy days compared with the same period of last year when only 32 days of excellent and 123 days of good air quality were registered.  

As stated by Moradi, Shiraz has experienced 314 lightly polluted days since 2007, which is almost equal to the annual number of days with AQI in metropolises like Tehran.

The AQI standard divides conditions into excellent (0-50), good (51-100), lightly polluted (101-150), moderately polluted (151-200) and heavily polluted (201-300).

Four air quality monitoring stations check the city’s air quality parameters 24/7.

Removing old, dilapidated and highly polluting cars from the streets of the historical city has helped reduce vehicular pollution, which generally comprises an average 75% of the total air pollution in metropolises.

Based on the figures, over 600,000 vehicles roam the streets of Shiraz daily.  

Although Shiraz has had a good track record in air quality recently, industrial development in suburban areas and expansion of dust storm hotspots have raised concerns.