Demands for lifting agriculture ban in Ahwaz

PADMAZ- Hundreds of Ahwazi farmers from different villages across Ahwaz have demonstrated in front of the governor’s building and demanded immediate lifting of summer agriculture ban in Ahwaz.

It is a more than a decade since Iranian authorities in Ahwaz have been decided to ban agriculture during summer, across hundreds villages in Ahwaz, claiming water shortage as a reason for this ban.

This is while Iran has built tens of dams on four major rivers of Ahwaz and transferred billions cubic meters of water to central provinces of Iran, annually. Karun, Karkha, Dez and Jarrahi are four major rivers which have been flowing through Ahwaz since thousands of years, however Iran’s securitized hydro projects have caused almost complete dryness of these rivers.

There is enough evidence disclosing that the transferred water to central provinces is used mainly for agriculture and industry. Ahwazi activists has stated the rights of Ahwazi people in the water of shared rivers and has been asking Iran for stopping it’s hydro projects which has dried out the whole Ahwaz.

Due to ban of agriculture, lake of drinking water and water pollution tens of villages across Ahwaz have been abandoned during the last two decades.