Valiallah Nanvakenari, Babolsar’s representative in the parliament
For many years, various cities in the country face catastrophic waste and waste disposal problem, which has directly been threatening the health of residents in affected areas. This disaster is not just for Tehran and AradKouh. Babolsar’s representative in the parliament illustrated the depth of the tragedy on May 29, 2019, by quoting a few statistics. Valiallah Nanvakenari described the waste handling in the urban areas of Babolsar and Fereydoun-kenar and other cities in Mazandaran province*:
“For more than a decade, Mazandaran is faced with the problem of waste dumping, and millions of tons abandoned garbage in the area, with its leachate entering agricultural land and threatening the health of our citizens in the coastal areas. If we don’t find a solution, the problem will even be worse than Halabja’s chemical bomb*. These wastes exist at 27 locations in Mazandaran and their landfill leachates flowing in the rivers, which is the main source of drinking water for domestic animals.”
The safe disposal method and sanitation of various types of wastes in cities and regions are one of the most critical concerns of advanced countries in the world. Many countries have been able to make significant progress with the knowledge and expertise of environmental experts, using the latest technological developments. Unfortunately, the environment of Iran in general and the disposal of waste in particular, which directly relate to the health of people, has gone in the reverse direction over the past 40 years. This happened while the regime has been spending billions of dollars on the anti-environmental and dangerous nuclear program and generous contributions to terrorist groups around the world.
* Halabja is a city in Iraqi Kurdistan. When the Kurdish guerrillas, supported by Iran, liberated Halabja on March 16, 1988, Iraqi planes dropped gas canisters on the town.
* Mazandaran is located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz Mountain.
