Garbage depot, the bane of Hyrkani forests/ will the government solve the problem in 4 years?

According to the economic correspondent of Moj News Agency, the accumulation of garbage in the Hyrkan forests of the north of the country Due to the challenges of burying and burning waste in the northern provinces of the country, It started about 50 years ago, and the mountains of garbage, some of which are more than 90 meters high, are not the result of yesterday’s and today’s garbage accumulation.

Due to the special topographical conditions, the proximity to the sea and the presence of many underground rivers and aquifers, the northern provinces of the country do not have the possibility of burying waste in the usual way in other cities of the country, and the development of waste incinerators in these provinces has also progressed slowly, and as a result, the accumulation We see a mountain of waste in the heart of the wild forests of the north of the country.

This accumulation of waste is increasing year by year due to the constant and variable increase in the population as well as the increase in per capita production of waste, and its consequences are more serious. This problem has endangered not only the health of these forests, but also the health of the residents around them.

Creating an unpleasant smell, making the landscape of the forests ugly, contracting various respiratory and skin diseases, and contaminating the soil and underground water sources are among the challenges that waste accumulation poses to Hyrcanian forests and the surrounding local communities. Leachates from these wastes flow down and destroy the hardiest trees and cause them to dry out.

Currently, there are 30 garbage sites in the Hyrkanian forests, and daily, unmonitored waste enters the Hyrkanian forests, which are also registered in the UNESCO natural heritage list.

We have not done well in the issue of sewage treatment plants and waste incinerators

In this context, Seyyed Mohsen Alavi, an environmental expert, told the reporter of Moj news agency: Leachates are the main threat caused by the huge accumulation of garbage. Leachate flows on the surface of the earth and due to its high level of acidity, it is very dangerous and a potential threat to all living organisms in the soil. The soil of the forests in the north of the country has high permeability and the leachate here immediately enters the soil and directly enters the underground water.

Emphasizing the use of waste incinerators to reduce waste in the north of the country, he added: In these years, we have not done well in the issue of sewage treatment plant and waste incinerators, which is due to the trickle injection of funds and the incorrect view of city and provincial managers that investment in waste incinerators is not possible. It is considered a kind of throwing away money.

This expert pointed out: Although the problem that has been created for 40 years cannot be solved overnight, it is expected that measures such as the establishment of a treatment plant, basic waste incineration centers, etc., will be implemented more quickly and with more monitoring of the illegal entry of waste into the country. Forest, the minimum input of waste should be zero, and in the next steps, action should be taken to solve the problem of leachate infiltration and to restore the forest areas that have been destroyed by waste. This problem should be fundamentally solved once and for all, and not to start dumping garbage somewhere else.

The Natural Resources and Watershed Organization, as the guardian of the country’s forests, has issued a permit for the construction of the depot site in recent years. And it has played an important role in the formation of ugly landscapes in Hyrcanian forests.

In this context, Abbas Ali Nobakht, Chairman Natural Resources Organization and Deputy Minister Agriculture He also told the reporter of Moj news agency: There are already a series of waste depot centers in Hyrkani forests, whose licenses were issued in the previous governments, but in the new government, no request has been made to hand over the area for this work.

He continued: According to the information I have, in Gilan province they are looking for the same waste site that exists in Saravan region. collect Because these wastes destroy the environment of the region have became.

The issue of waste in the northern provinces of the country is a constant in all the meetings of the National Waste Management Working Group, which is held every week with the presence of all the country’s agencies in the Environmental Protection Organization. In these meetings, solving the problem of the mountains of garbage and the deep wound that entered the country is pursued more seriously than ever. The environmental organization plans to solve this problem within a period of 4 years.

Ali Selajgeh, Vice President and Chairman Environmental Protection Organization Regarding the latest implementation status of this program, he told the reporter of Moj News Agency: Regarding the garbage depot in the north of the country, 50% of the work has been done and we are regularly following up on issues and reports of mayors and governors at the National Waste Headquarters. According to the plan we had defined, so far the entry of waste into these forests has been stopped and we are looking to eradicate the problem within a period of 4 years.