TEHRAN — Some 110 hectares of gardens have been destroyed in the capital Tehran over the past three years, Tehran’s Deputy Mayor Hojjat Mirzaei said on Friday.

For fourteen years builders were legally authorized to construct towering buildings in gardens on condition that the buildings only covered 30 percent of the gardens, however, in reality in order to provide parking space and also due to the construction works more than two thirds of the gardens were destroyed. 

The gardens, filled with tall, old trees, were once the lungs of the city. 14,000 hectares of gardens shrank to some 9,000 over the past few decades. 

Given the harsh criticisms coming from the environmentalists and some officials, a ban on construction of high rise buildings in Tehran gardens was introduced by the Tehran City Council on Tuesday. 

“The law which gave consent to the builders to construct in gardens was the main culprit for the destruction of the gardens in Tehran,” ISNA news agency quoted Mirzaei as saying. 

“In order to protect the urban vegetation we have to overlook the profit that construction of high-rise buildings brings in,” he highlighted, adding, “Although repealing the law is not enough, some might use evasive maneuvers to continue destroying gardens.”

He went on to say that the Tehran Municipality must be very vigilant to stop any violation of the law. “In policy making we should care about the long-term consequences and make decisions in citizens’ best interest.”

MQ/PA