Iranian scholar and researcher Parviz Kardovani has warned that roads and railroad tracks could sink into the ground because of the unregulated exploitation of underground waters.
ISNA reports that according to Kardovani, in several areas such as the plains of Tehran, roads are already sinking. He adds that he is very concerned about the possibility of tracks sinking and causing disastrous accidents.
The Department of the Environment has confirmed that the land in south of the capital has been sinking at many times the expected rate.
The report says possible outcomes of this overexploitation of underground water includes “earthquakes, an increase in skin problems and the drying out of wetlands and lakes.”
The country’s water crisis, according to Kardovani, began with “the neglect of aqueducts and the drilling of deep and semi-deep wells sucking every bit of underground water.”
Despite reports that the Iran is in a severe water crisis, average water consumption remains much higher that international norms.
