REACTIONS AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION OF KARUN-4 DAM
ARE GROWING
Iranian President Ahmadinejad participated in the
groundbreaking ceremony of Karun-4 Dam that was planned to be constructed near
Iraqi border. This initiative of Ahmadinejad caused great reactions both at home
and abroad. Because, national and international environmentalist
organizations are of the opinion that a hydroelectric power
plant that will be constructed on Karun River will give great damage to
environment...
Construction of the dam, for which nearly 1 trillion Tumans
will be expended, will cause 200 thousand trees to remain under water and result
in the desertation of the region due to erosion that will follow. Furthermore,
many families will suffer losses because of this project. Experts who make
assessments on this issue point out that the construction of the dam is against
the Iranian Constitution’s 48th and 50th Articles concerning the exploitation of
natural resources and environment. It is emphasized that turbines operating with
natural gas and solar energy should be preferred instead of hydroelectric power
plants.
Political spheres indicate that Karun River becomes an
issue of confrontation between Iran and Iraq from time to time. As is known, the
Iranian Government is working on changing the direction of Karun River to make
it flow to the Persian Gulf instead of Shatt ol Arab.
Also, sometimes it leaves Iraq in bad situation by cutting
down the water of the river. Diplomatic sources emphasize that Iranian
Government is using the water of this river as a bargaining chip. Meanwhile, it
is interesting that the construction work of the damcoincides with the general elections process in Iraq... As
a matter of fact, the Iranian Government feels annoyed owing to the fact that
the political parties backed by Iran could not obtain the desired amount of
votes in the Iraqi election. And this raises certain questions in mind. Does the Iranian Government intend to decrease the
amount of water in Karun River and to leave Iraq without water?..
