By Hamideh Taati
It’s been recently reported that there is a significant risk for the floodwaters to move from the northern areas down to Khuzestan, which would cause even heavier and deadlier destruction across the country!
While many government officials claim to be effectively “managing this crisis”, many people are worried about another bigger crisis, which is the government’s evident mismanagement and lack of ability to take proper actions.
On Friday 5th April, Entekhab (news website) wrote: “For years, many political figures have criticised the ineffective management, especially of those in charge of Iran’s crises. Which can now clearly be reflected in Pole Dokhtar’s messy situation”.
According to Entekhab: “the main target of criticism is this unorganised system; which has frustrated many, including the provincial governor himself”.
The governor of Pole Dokhtar has recently stated: “our sectors don’t know their responsibilities well”. By this, he is referring to the government’s lack of ability to divide or manage its tasks effectively.
Just recently, Ali Sari (Ahvaz representative in parliament) told ILNA about the lack of an organised management of crises as well as the insufficient facilities of Khuzestan.
As can be seen from the published photos and reports, many Iranians, especially those in Pole Dokhtar and Lorestan, have been heavily impacted by the floods. What everyone is worried about now is not just the damages but also the expected consequences such as disease outbreaks.
Sari also emphasised on the fact that “they still haven’t been able to bring Khuzestan back to normal” and that “this stems from the main issue which was the accumulated volume of water behind the dams back in January and February, as well as lack of dredging in rivers; which were the two main causes of this disaster”.
According to ILNA: “residents of Pole Dokhtar have hit back at the Lorestan’s governor due to the lack of support from ignorant officials in charge”.
Tehran’s representative named Parvaneh Mafi seems to agree as she also stated:” The lack of attention to the management of rivers and flood paths, is why the damages of this disastrous flood across our northern and southern regions are being exacerbated”. She emphasised: “as evident from the photographs of our northern and southern regions, the borders of our rivers, even the dry ones, are unsafe and at risk of violation”.
The Ministry of Roads and Urban Development also pointed out to the inappropriate developments as well as the un-dredged rivers, as the main causes behind this flood.