TEHRAN - Environmental consultant of Tehran Municipality Mohammad-Hadi Heidarzadeh has stated that Tehran’s most important predicament is overpopulation.

Talking to the Mehr News Agency, he said that Tehran has an ecological capacity for three million residents but now about ten million people are living in the metropolis.
He noted that Tehran’s population is several times higher than its urban ecological capacity, resulting in ailments amongst the residents arising from the pollution.
Tehrani residents will have a diminished quality of life if this trend is not controlled, he uttered.
The head of Tehran Municipality’s Environment and Sustainable Development Office added that Tehran has a capacity for 700,000 cars but currently more than 3 million cars are on the roads in the capital.
He went on to say that when there is no balance between population pressure and metropolitan’s capacity, ecosystem starts being damaged and this issue is occurring for Tehran’s water, soil, and weather.
Heidarzadeh said as a matter of fact Tehran is now in a critical condition and municipality is trying to change the condition.
Developing infrastructures such as waste water network and public transportation, expanding green spaces, and population control play significant role in this situation, he explained.
He noted that population concentration should be reduced in Tehran and people should be encouraged to move to other centers with enough capacity and infrastructure.
He also said it is not valid to say that “tomorrow a group of people should go out of Tehran”, noting the process needs a ten-year period.
The Tehran Municipality consultant added that constructing buildings and towers has made problems for bird nesting.
Sound and weather pollution in Tehran have caused bird migration, he added.