Tehran, April 22, IRNA - Excessive use of natural resources has caused Orumieh Lake to dry up, said the director general of East Azarbaijan provinces Department of Environment.Speaking in a meeting with members of the Headquarters for Reviving Orumieh Lake and a provincial workgroup, Hassan Abbasnejad added that human, natural and genetic resources are among the biggest wealth of every country.
Abbasnejad stressed that the controlled use of natural resources will benefit future generations, the English-language newspaper ?Iran Daily? repored on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, some 34,000 hectares of cultivable lands are being destroyed in the northern part of the province and this is a main source of concern for environmentalists, he said.
He noted that particulate matters are presently collected at 107 locations of the country, while the figure for the years before the victory of Islamic Revolution in 1979 was three.
Abbasnejad also said most countries use some 30 percent of their water resources while the figure for Iran is 80 percent.
The official announced that about 90 percent of Orumieh Lake have gone dry.
Abbasnejad said effective measures should be taken in the first half of the current Iranian year to save the lake, otherwise the southern side of it will also dry up.
Rahim Hob-e Naqi, chancellor of Orumieh University, said Orumieh Lake was registered as a wetland of international importance in 1975.
The lake has recently been identified as the saltiest lake of the world and this shows more serious efforts should be taken to revive the lake, he said.
He added that the issue is being followed up by President Hassan Rouhani since the current government took office.
Hob-e Naqi believes all university students and professors should perform their national duty and spare no effort to revive the lake.
Human activities have caused environmental destruction and damage, he said, adding that excessive development of agricultural sector and uncontrolled use of water in the past 15 years have caused Orumieh Lake to dry up.
By IRNA
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