TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian has announced the allocation of 32 trillion rials (about $761.2 million) for emergency water supply in provinces that are facing severe water shortage in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21).
Speaking in a ceremony for inaugurating new projects in the seventh week of the ministry’s A-B-Iran scheme on Tuesday, Ardakanian said: “Approving 32 trillion rials of resources for implementing emergency water supply programs in dry provinces is going to ensure sustained supply of water for people living in such regions.”
According to Ardakanian, the decline in rainfalls during the current water year (started in September 2020) has also caused a 3,200-megawatt decrease in the country’s electricity production.
The minister called on people and authorities to monitor electricity and water consumption by households and government entities in order to pass the summer’s peak consumption period without any shortages.
He pointed to the current year as the driest year over the past 50 years and stressed the need for taking consumption management programs seriously.
The official further mentioned the significance of the ministry’s A-B-Iran program, saying that a total of 290 major energy projects are going to be implemented under the framework of the mentioned program in the current Iranian calendar year.
The official put the total investment made in the mentioned projects at 80 trillion rials (about $1.9 billion) and expressed hope that like the previous phases, this phase of the program will also be completed as scheduled.
Four dams, several power plants, some water, and sewage treatment plants, and numerous rural water supply projects are among the projects that are going to be implemented in the current year under the framework of the A-B-Iran program.
Marking the seventh week of the A-B-Iran scheme in the current year, Ardakanian, on Tuesday, inaugurated 10 energy projects worth $80 million in three different provinces through video conference.
