TEHRAN – Iran’s deputy energy minister says over 10 million people in the country’s rural areas will be supplied with drinkable water through pipelines by the Iranian calendar year of 1400 (starts in March 2021).

Over 7.7 million people in villages with over 20 households across the country, currently, have access to drinkable water through pipeline and the figure is expected to reach 10 million by the end of the current presidency (ends in about a year), Ghasem Taghizadeh Khamesi wrote on his social media.

According to the official, about 20 million people live in 62,000 villages in Iran, 23,000 of which have less than 20 households and a population of about five million; this dispersion is the main challenge of Energy Ministry for providing drinkable water to the rural areas.

Underlining Iran’s good position among the world countries in terms of water supply, Khamesi said: “About 63 percent of cities around the world have access to drinkable water networks, while in Iran nearly 100 percent of the cities are connected to the drinkable water network.”

“Nearly 2.5 million people in the world do not have access to healthy drinkable water, and 800 million people are provided with water only half an hour a day on average,” he regretted.

Back in November 2019, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian had said that his ministry planned to provide all 10 million people living in the rural areas of Iran with healthy drinking water by the end of the summer of Iranian calendar year of 1400 (September 2021).

This measure prevents migration of villagers to the cities, while encouraging urban-rural migration and promoting production in the rural areas, Ardakanian had stressed.

EF/MA