TEHRAN – Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami said over 1,795 kilometers (km) of main roads, as well as 7,324 km of side and rural roads, and 6,592 technical buildings that were damaged from floods in the country during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) have been reconstructed, IRIB reported.

Speaking in the inauguration ceremony of the reconstruction projects, which was held through video conference, Eslami said: “The Transport Ministry, the Housing Foundation of Islamic Revolution, and several contractors worked on various projects in the affected areas and completed most of them.”

Pointing out that 22 provinces of the country were affected by floods in the previous Iranian calendar year, the official said: “Over 2,485 kilometers of main roads, 2,637 kilometers of side roads, 10,000 technical buildings and bridges were damaged in the floods.”

The damage made to the mentioned infrastructure was estimated to be 35 trillion rials (about $833.3 million) at the time, he added.

The minister further stated that the government has so far paid 11 trillion rials (about $261 million) to the ministry for the reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure.

“The reconstruction of the damaged areas in the road and urban development sector began and carried out with high quality and speed, and the people returned to their normal lives,” he noted.

Eslami pointed to the construction of alternative roads as another measure taken by the ministry in the mentioned regions noting that over 690 kilometers of various roads will be inaugurated in the next Iranian calendar year (begins on March 21, 2021).

Back in February, Eslami had announced that 724 km of new main roads and highways were added to the country’s roads network in the previous Iranian calendar year.

In late January, the transport ministry announced that six prioritized freeways projects with a total length of 550 kilometers (KM) were planned to be inaugurated in the country by the Iranian Calendar year of 1400.

EF/MA