Planes to spray water over Iran capital
Iran’s Environment Protection Organization (IEPO) is to start a project to dilute Tehran’s air pollution through spraying water on the suffocating metropolis.
Noting that Tehran’s air pollution is still at an alarming level due to the accumulation of pollutants and the pattern of air inversion, IEPO Managing Director Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh said on Sunday that 10 airplanes will sprinkle water over the Iranian capital.
He told Fars news agency that the project will start on Monday or Tuesday with the cooperation of Agricultural Jihad Ministry and will last for two days.
The Iranian official added that the organization’s researchers are trying to find ways to shake up the atmosphere to produce rain or create artificial wind corridors to blow the thick haze away.
Moreover, Tehran Governor General Morteza Tamaddon said that the IEPO is designing ventilation and air conditioner systems to be installed in about a hundred polluted spots of the choking capital.
Earlier on Saturday, Tehran’s deputy governor general for development affairs, Mohammad Reza Mahmoudi, said that air pollution in some parts of the city has reached a critical level.
Pollution was at its worst in Shahr-e Rey, Azadi, Razi and Qiyam areas in the southern districts and Tehran in general was on "alert level" with a Pollution Standards Index (PSI) of 151.
PSI is a yardstick for determining the concentration of various pollutants in the air, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen compounds, ozone and suspended floating particles. A PSI of more than 100 hints at polluted or unhealthy conditions.
According to a research carried out by the Tehran Municipality and the IEPO, over 80 percent of the air pollution is due to the 3.5 million automobiles plying the almost permanently clogged streets in the Iranian capital and its monstrous traffic that has seriously affected the quality of life in Tehran Province.
A study by the Air Quality Control Company shows that in Tehran cars produce at least 4,400 tons of air pollutants every day and 1.6 million tons a year.
The main air pollutants are the common smog-creating pollutants, toxic and greenhouse gases. Vehicles are also the main culprits when it comes to carbon monoxide and nitrogen-oxide emissions and suspended particulate matter.
The geographical location of Tehran, wedged between mountains, is also one of the chief reasons for the pollution’s chronic choke of Tehran, meaning if there is no wind or rain, the steep slopes act like a thermal catch basin and the smog gets trapped.
Other Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Arak and Tabriz, were also grappling with high pollution last week. The average PSI in Isfahan on Saturday was 201.
Source: presstv.ir
