In the past few days, the provinces of Bushehr, Khorasan Razavi, South Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Fars, Kerman, Hormozgan, and Yazd have been affected by floods and inundation, and many people have lost their lives and livelihoods. Thousands of compatriots are displaced, homeless, affected by floods, and seeking refuge in flood-affected areas. Communication routes are closed, power lines have collapsed, agricultural lands have been destroyed, and it is difficult for relief efforts to reach the affected people. What’s worse is that the people of Sistan and Baluchestan have experienced house-destroying floods in less than two months, submerging their remaining belongings. The floods have affected hundreds of villages and blocked communication routes. There is no clean water to drink and no electricity to use. The most damaged area is Zarabad, which is completely submerged. On April 20, the state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper reported, “Zarabad is the center of Makran Development, but it doesn’t even have the smallest machinery or equipment, not even a high-clearance road maintenance vehicle that can reach the villages itself.”
On April 20, Fararu news website quoted a citizen of Zarabad as saying, “One of the main reasons for these floods is the mismanagement of water flow and the neglect of river dredging. The consultants for road construction projects do not use the local knowledge of the people at all, and they pay no attention to their warnings. As a result, most bridges have collapsed, and all agricultural lands and people’s homes have been submerged… After the flood, the Minister of Interior visited this area, but what good did it do? When there is no machinery like a tractor in the road maintenance department, what can that road maintenance facility and crisis team do?”
The cities of Konarak, Chabahar, and Dashtiari are facing a similar situation, as they have also suffered extensive damage from the floods in February. The greater tragedy there is that even a water tanker is not available at the scene. It is not possible to use local resources such as front-loaders and compressors because the government, under Regime president Ebrahim Raisi, does not provide them with the necessary fuel.
For years, in the Dashtiari region, deep channels called “Gorgroks” have been created, and with each flood, their depth increases, drawing and exacerbating the flow of water. This multiplies the severity of heavy rainfall crises several times over. As a result, agricultural lands are destroyed, and mud and brick houses collapse. On May 12, 2020, ILNA news agency reported, “The area affected by the erosion caused by the Gorgrok, according to statistics from the Department of Natural Resources and Watershed Management, covers an area of 800,000 hectares, located 70 kilometers northeast of Chabahar city.”
Baluchestan forsaken
The people of Sistan and Baluchestan province are facing shortages of food, lack of healthcare, and destruction caused by extensive floods. Many roads are blocked, and numerous infrastructures have been destroyed. Access to water, electricity, and telephone services is unavailable. The number of casualties and missing persons has not been fully accounted for yet.
On April 20, the state-run Donya-ye Eghtesad newspaper wrote, “Now many people have formed local groups and are searching from village to village for the missing individuals.”
On April 20, the state-run Entekhab news website quoted a member of the Majlis (parliament), as saying, “So far, ten people have been killed.” But according to the Baluch Activists Campaign, at least 18 people have been killed in the floods.
On March 17, Eghtesad News website quoted Abdolvahab Shahlibar, a sociologist and water researcher, as saying, “The flawed development pattern is the main factor behind the destructive floods that grip the people of Sistan and Baluchestan every few years… Since the construction of the Sube Dam, continuous water flow into the plain has been disrupted. At the time of building the dam, local people also opposed it, but it seems that the benefits derived from dam construction have prevented the concerns of local communities from being heard.”
Nowadays, many areas of Baluchestan have become depopulated, with only scattered patches of barren land and no sign of abundant orchards. What has happened in this province is not solely related to the recent floods but rather the consequences and extensive crises resulting from them. One of the effects of these critical conditions is widespread migration and marginalization in cities, which in turn initiates further hardships for the oppressed people of this region in Iran.
Overwhelming management crisis
Despite the meteorological department issuing a red alert for the rainfall during March and April, and the lives and properties of thousands of people in the southern provinces being at risk, with unprecedented levels of precipitation compared to half a century ago, the agents of the clerical regime showed no concern for this tragedy. In practice, they provided only formalistic and propaganda measures, leaving the vulnerable people helpless. The governor of Sistan and Baluchestan had also admitted that during the two days, communication was cut off from 346 villages in Konarak, Chabahar, Dashtiari, and Zarabad. And due to heavy rainfall and floods, and some houses in Konarak were flooded.
According to the deputy of the Crisis Management Headquarters in Sistan and Baluchestan, the initial estimate of flood damage in the province amounts to 18 trillion rials, and it is still increasing due to the volume of rainfall. The spokesperson of the National Crisis Management Organization, referring to the affected areas, said, “As a result of these downpours, approximately 1,500 villages and 19 counties in the south and central parts of the country, as well as six counties in the north, have been affected by floods and inundation.”
Two months ago, experts had warned about the potential consequences of natural disasters, but the clerical regime was preoccupied with warmongering in the Middle East and suppressing women under the pretext of hijab. Meanwhile, the Iranian Resistance has always called upon noble compatriots to support the oppressed people and stand against the tyranny of the religious zealots and the Revolutionary Guards.
