Iran’s water apocalypse: 15 provinces go dry, crisis deepens in Tehran

Iran’s capital Tehran, a city with 10 million residents, is facing the worst water shortage ever as taps have run dry, with officials warning that the city might soon become uninhabitable.

The country is facing an unprecedented drought. As per official data which starts measuring downpour by September 23 every year, the 15 out 31 provinces in Iran have not received any rain.

President Mesoud Pezeshkian earlier warned that if the city does not receive rain by December, the government would have to start rationing water.

He added, “Even with rationing, if we don’t receive rain, the water resources will be depleted and the city might have to be evacuated.”

The consistent six year drought has depleted water reservoirs. Despite the residents cutting their water usage by 12 per cent in the last seven months, the crises still looms.

The worsening effects of climate change have also intensified the problem. Global warming accelerates evaporation and groundwater loss.

Calls to pray for divine intervention have resurfaced as Head of Tehran’s City Council, Mehdi Chamran, called for people to gather in the desert and pray for rain.

Authorities have lowered water pressure in some parts of the city and advised public to install storage tanks, pumps and other devices to avoid major disruption.

According to a Stuttgart University researcher, Mohammad Javad Tourian, Iran’s water has run dry due to decades of overuse, inefficient irrigation and water mismanagement.

According to a research published in Nature magazine in 2022, Iran is losing 16 billion tons of water every year due to same issues.