Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian says the Majlis has allowed his ministry to borrow €300 million from the National Development Fund of Iran for improve precautionary measures against dust storms that harm power stations and water and wastewater treatment plants in the dry southern provinces.
"Sandstorms will not take us by surprise anymore, not only due to high rainfall in southern regions but also because of the ongoing mega power and water projects that will come on stream by March," the Persian-language daily Hamshahri quoted Ardakanian as saying.
According to the minister, projects costing an estimated €450 million will be launched soon in the southern regions.
"The projects will help harness minimum 1 billion cubic meters of water annually, curb blackouts in areas where dust storms reduce vision to barely 50 meters." He did not elaborate.
According to the Energy Ministry news portal, Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) allocated $75 million to restore power and water utilities in southern Khuzestan Province in 2017, particularly wastewater treatment plants which went off the grid after severe sandstorms hit the region.
"One-third of power infrastructure in Khuzestan is at the mercy of dust storms. Nonetheless, the new funding will help minimize the adverse effects of storms," Ardakanian said, expressing the hope that storms that frequently result in wide-spread outages in the oil province would be less harmful in the coming years.
One of the largest sources of dust storms in Khuzestan is the Hoor al-Azim Wetland, which is a lagoon between Iran and Iraq.
Old and obsolete oil extraction methods in Khuzestan and rivers running dry in Iraq have rendered the once thriving wetland all but desiccated.
Moreover, persistent drought and desiccation of wetlands and rivers have further harmed the natural phenomenon. While global warming is partly to blame, human interference (obsolete oil extraction methods) too has turned the dust storms into a problem of epic proportions.
forestation, mulching and revival of wetlands and rivers are among measures the government has taken in recent years to handle the crisis.
As per next year's budget bill, the ministry will allocate an estimated €300 million to implement key projects to fight sandstorms. But experts say this amount is about a quarter of what is needed.
