Lorestan Villages Vanish as People Leave

Forty villages in Lorestan Province are hemorrhaging people so fast that they’ll be deserted in the foreseeable future.

“These villages, whose household numbers range from 10 to 74, are rapidly losing people to cities,” Ali Khademi, an official with the provincial chapter of the Agriculture Ministry, was quoted by YJC as saying.

“Only 30% of Lorestan’s 1.76 million people now live in the villages as more people are moving to cities,” he added.

In spite of the region’s agriculture potential, thanks to its rich soil, poor access to water in villages is pushing farmers out of their homes and toward cities that are already struggling with overpopulation in hopes of finding better job opportunities.

Official reports say nearly 5,000 villages across the country are struggling with varying degrees of water deficit.