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Iran’s Rouhani sets up group to save Lake Urmia

19 August 2013 [19:04] - TODAY.AZ
Source: /AzerNews/

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has established a working group to tackle the issue of saving the Lake Urmia, the official website of the president reported.

"As I've promised, I established an Urmia lake-saving work group, which will be headed by country's energy minister, Hamid Chitchian," Rouhani told journalists.

Other members of the group include the agriculture minister, the interior minister, and the head of the Environment Protection Organization and a representative of the deputy president for planning and strategic supervision.

The work group was commissioned to use the background of the already conducted studies and technical research works in the field and present their proposals for saving the Urmia Lake to the government within a two-month period.

Despite the Iranian government has prepared projects for restoration of Lake and cooperates with neighbor country Azerbaijan to direct Araz River water into the Lake, these efforts couldn't get desired results to date.

Recently, it was reported that all animals habiting in islands of Urmia Lake will be transferred to suitable habitats.

The general director of the Organization for Environmental Protection of the Iranian Province of West Azerbaijan Hassan AbbasNejad has said that during last two months some 5 tons of forage and 50,000 liters of water have been transferred to Urmia Lake islands, adding that the organization is reviewing suitable replacement habitats for wildlife of the islands.

Lake Urmia in northwest Iran is experiencing its worst drought condition for many years, where over 70 per cent of its water has dried up. The level of the water has been declining since 1995.

Officials say if the current restoration efforts are not effective, the lake will be turned into a swamp within four years.

The area of Lake Urmia is the third largest salt water lake on earth, which has 6,000 square kilometers surface. The lake's drying up has an impact on the flora and fauna of the region. Experts on environmental issues say that the measures taken by the Iranian government are not enough to save the lake.

The project on directing 600 million cubic meters of water from Araz River into Lake Urmia was launched during a visit by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and government officials to Tabriz in 2010. Some $1.2 billion is to be allocated to implement the project.

The Iranian government allocated $900 million for the prevention of Lake Urmia's drying up in September 2011.

Also, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has allocated $135 million to Iran to resolve environmental problems with shoaling of the lake.
URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/125504.html

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