Worshippers urged to pray for rain in dry Iran
TEHRAN, Iran — The ritual chants of “Death to America!” have not gone away, but at recent Friday services across Iran, worshippers sought divine intervention in a matter more climatological than ideological.
The faithful prayed for rain, or at least were urged to do so.
“For God’s sake, let’s go to God’s door and ask his Almighty to send water,” an animated Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi implored assembled worshippers on the campus of Tehran University, traditional venue of nationally televised Friday prayers.
Occasionally breaking into sobs, the cleric exhorted members of the congregation to make their pleas both to the Creator and to Imam Hussein, a revered figure in Shiite Muslim tradition. The water shortages afflicting Iran, the ayatollah suggested, could be a heavenly nudge aimed at getting sluggish believers to pay a little more attention to matters of the spirit.
“God sometimes sends ordeals to make his followers seek him out by praying and avoiding sin,” the ayatollah told worshippers, adding his own view that the divine reprimand, if that’s what it is, stretched the limits of fair play. “Iran has dedicated lots of martyrs to God and does not deserve a shortage of water,” the cleric asserted.
Concern is mounting about dwindling water supplies across Iran, from the densely populated, smog-ridden capital and its parched suburbs to provincial towns and cities to far-flung corners of the nation, much of which is desert. Lakes and rivers have been drying up, reservoirs are at historic lows and there have been water supply cuts in some areas. The annual snow-melt from the mountains is on the decline.
On the streets there, people grumble about cuts in water service. Many buildings have tanks on the roofs to collect rainwater. Unfortunately, it hasn’t rained in months. Bottled water is available for consumption, but many Iranians have little excess income to purchase the commodity. Most Iranians rely on tap water for drinking and washing.
“On some days of the week, our tap water is cut for seven or eight hours,” said Akbar Aziz, 40, a printing-house employee who lives in the capital’s working-class Khorasan district. “We are consuming as little as possible,” added Aziz, a father with young daughters. “We only shower two times a week. So we are not responsible for the water shortages.”
Experts cite a range of factors: a prolonged drought, climate change, and outdated agricultural and household practices that tend to squander reserves. Iran regularly ranks near the bottom in global surveys of how nations manage water resources, officials say.
The summer was a sweltering one in the capital, a trend that has continued deep into September and the early fall. The water problem is not likely to go away anytime soon.
“In the short-term there is really no solution,” professor B. Alijani, a lecturer on climate change and geography, said in an interview. “But Iranians need to learn to economize water and avoid wasting it both at home and in the fields.”
He noted, for instance, that farmers using irrigation maintain water-gorging orchards of apple and cherry trees in arid areas such as near Lake Urmia, a once-grand body of salty water in northwest Iran that is now dying, its shorelines receding annually. Underground aquifers that feed into the lake are running dry.
“Why on earth are we cultivating apples and cherries near the Urmia salt lake?” Alijani asked.
In a recent dispatch, the semiofficial Fars News Agency quoted a grim assessment from Eshaq Jahangiri, Iran’s first vice president, after he completed a tour of water treatment facilities and reservoirs in the capital. He and others have embarked on a campaign to raise awareness.
“Tehran’s dams only have water for a few more days, and this means that people must take serious measures,” the vice president warned. “Those who use water beyond normal amounts are hurting those who abide by appropriate levels of consumption.”