Pressure Mounts on TM to Clean Sewers

Tehran’s chief environment official has joined the growing chorus of criticism directed at Tehran Municipality over its failure to combat the rodent problem.

Mohammad Haqqani, chairman of the Tehran City Council’s Environment Committee, has taken the TM to task for abandoning programs that had helped cut rodent numbers.

The municipality in the past used to systematically clean the gutters and sealed sewers with foam, which despite being costly had proven effective.

Echoing the councilor’s sentiment, Mohammad Hossein Bazgir, head of Tehran’s Department of Environment, told ISNA that the municipality’s inefficient waste management schemes have exacerbated the problem.

“They’ve been completely neglected,” he said.

However, the official concurred that the people also must bear some of the blame due to the huge amounts of waste they produce.

“Our lifestyle is such that we generate a lot of waste. This combined with the municipality’s mismanagement indeed creates a terribly great environment for rodent numbers to multiply,” Bazgir said.

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

Bazgir said 90% of the city’s waste is disposed with little regard to regulations.

“What’s worse, 70% of Tehran’s waste is recyclable,” he added, describing waste as “unused wealth.”

The environment official urged the incoming city council, which is expected to hold its first session on August 24, to push the municipality to implement effective waste management plans.

The DOE is preparing a bill that would scrap taxes on waste management schemes to encourage the private enterprises to invest in the sector.