Tehran Province Security Council will decide whether or not to halt activities in Tehran’s gravel pits, located in District 18 (southwest).
According to Rahmatollah Hafezi, who chairs the Environment and Health Commission at the Tehran City Council, the pits are four times deeper than allowed by law.
“The pits are supposed to be 35 meters deep, but they’re all doing close to 138 meters,” Tabnak news website quoted him as saying.
To make matters worse, many of the pits are located within four meters of Kan Creek.
“If the river floods, the ensuing damage could very well extend to Mehrabad Airport,” Hafezi said. Located less than 10 kilometers northeast of the gravel pits, Mehrabad Airport is the busiest domestic airport in the country in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft movement.
Following talks between the city council and the judiciary — which led to a visit to the gravel pits by provincial environment and judiciary officials on Sunday — the commission was tasked with preparing a report of the site, outlining its dangers to the local community and environment.
“The report will be submitted to the attorney general and the head of the Tehran Justice Department, and the provincial Security Council (at the Tehran Governorate) will rule on whether or not to suspend gravel extraction in District 18,” Hafezi said, adding that he expects a recreational facility to be constructed in the mining site.
