grasshopper water; A natural attraction or a passage of death?

The Locust water area of ​​Semiram is one of the natural attractions of this city that attracts many tourists, but at the same time, tragic events occur in this area every year.

Ab Malkh or Takht Suleiman, the southernmost tourist point of Semiram, is located 70 kilometers south of this city in Padna. Ab Melkh is one of the two-story waterfalls in Iran, the bubbling spring of this waterfall has a special beauty that attracts many tourists every year due to its many natural attractions. But every year due to the carelessness of some tourists and their entering the river, we witness tragic incidents and drowning in the water locust area. According to some sources, at least 33 people have lost their lives in this area in the last 8 years.

The most recent incident in Ab Melkh area was the drowning of two tourists from Isfahan who had gone to this area on August 27, and the body of one of them has not been found yet. But the main point and question here is what factor causes these incidents and tourists to go into Ab Melkh River?

In order to further investigate this issue and ways to prevent such tragic events, ISNA spoke with Dariush Karimi, the deputy of rescue and relief of the Isfahan Red Crescent Society and Saeed Soleimanian, the head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department of Semiram, which you can read below. :

The attraction of locust water is deceptive

The deputy of Red Crescent Society of Isfahan province said: Every year, a number of compatriots enter the dangerous area of ​​the river and lose their lives due to the attractiveness of the Locust water area of ​​Semiram and its beautiful river. For this reason, we had meetings last year to prevent such tragic incidents from occurring, and the reasons for these incidents were investigated. There is a large boulder in the middle of the Ab-Melkh River, which tourists go to take photos on because of the beauty of the river. Sometimes, due to the rough surface of the stone, they slip and fall into the turbulent river and die.

Dangerous areas are fenced

Dariush Karimi added: For this reason, last year, by the order of the crisis management of the province, they fenced this area so that no one could step on this rock. All the necessary arrangements have been thought out and followed up to reduce these incidents, but the length of Ab Melkh river in Semiram section is 7 km and it is not possible to close this entire route and sometimes they enter this river from other provinces such as Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad.

Under the rocks, water eddies

The deputy of rescue and rescue of the Red Crescent of Isfahan Province said: Even those who are very skilled swimmers as soon as they enter the Locust River, due to the low temperature of the water, its high speed and the presence of special rocks, the water under these rocks forms a vortex. They get into an accident, so that the eddy current of the river pulls the victims down.

Karimi stated: Two tourists from Isfahan were missing in this area since August 28, and after many searches by the Red Crescent and fire brigade teams, the body of one of these tourists was discovered, but the body of another one of these tourists was most likely under the rocks that water It works in the form of a vortex and is known as Takht Sulaiman, it is stuck and it is not possible to dive under these rocks in any way, and if any diver enters this particular area, he will lose his life.

Education and information is the most important factor in reducing accidents

He continued: “The media and newspapers, with the help of the responsible agencies, should provide the necessary information about the Locust Water Falls so that tourists, especially young people who travel to this area, are not tempted to enter the water of the river and do not go to the riverside to take pictures.” Therefore, education and information plays the first role so that people do not approach the water locust river and stand at a distance.

We cannot send divers to their death

The deputy of rescue and rescue of the Red Crescent Society of Isfahan province said: The pressure that some media and the families of the victims of the accident put on that the victim’s body should be found in any way is not logical at all, because in some cases it is not possible to send divers to very dangerous areas. and endangered their lives. Day and night, we have this stress that if the rescue teams have an accident in this area, how should we respond to their families.

Karimi added: The possibility that the undiscovered body of one of the tourists from Isfahan entered the Karun river and dam is weak, because there are several points along the route where the river widens and the water speed slows down, and for this reason, if the body comes to these areas It is easily visible and seen by villagers and rescue teams. The rescue teams of the Red Crescent use all their power to find the bodies of the victims, and professional and experienced divers enter this river, and we should not risk the lives of these rescuers by insisting on one issue.

He reminded: the media should inform the people and the Red Crescent in Semiram city has given the necessary training to the citizens. Usually, non-native people and tourists have problems and accidents in the locust water area, and native people who are aware of the dangers of the river do not enter the water.

The deputy of the Red Crescent Society of Isfahan Province noted: We must create the conditions to send our troops to these areas taking into account all the safety conditions, because we cannot act emotionally and send the rescue teams and divers to their deaths.

Karimi said: The depth of the river water under the rocks is not known precisely, but this depth may reach up to 20 meters. No one can enter this area of ​​the river so that we can determine the depth of the water under the rocks. Locust water area is so attractive and has a beautiful nature that lures tourists, so that they are tempted to go into the river.

We cannot close all the water inlets of the locust

He continued: The Red Crescent does not have any preventive duties in this regard and only has the duty of training so that people are familiar with first aid and do not enter high-risk areas. There are many entrances to the Locust Water area, and if we close the entrances, tourists will climb the mountain and enter the valley from the mountain, and we cannot close the entire mountain. The area is wide and the only way to prevent such tragic events is to raise the level of awareness of people not to enter the valley and river of this area.

The deputy of Red Crescent Society of Isfahan province said: Of course, the number of incidents this year in Ab Melkh region was lower than in previous years.

Three years ago, we protected the water locust area

Also, the director of the cultural heritage and tourism department of Semiram city said: Three years ago, the cultural heritage department of Semiram, in cooperation with the governor and the regional water company, secured and protected the entire Cheshme and Ab Melkh area, and installed warning signs in various areas leading to the Ab Melkh river. has been Therefore, what should have been done in the government sphere, the Cultural Heritage Department in cooperation with the Padna Villagers Cooperative Company, Governor, Villagers and Locust Water Council have taken all security and protection measures to prevent any accidents in this area.

More than one billion tomans was spent on fence removal

Saeed Suleimanian added: Some tourists do not pay attention to the warning signs and ignore the protective fences due to carelessness and inattention, and we cannot do anything to prevent their carelessness. Due to the location and conditions of Ab Melkh area, which is very large, huge expenses must be spent to install protection, and in the past few years, we have spent more than one billion tomans to install protective fences and draw fences.

All possible security measures have been taken

The head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department of Semiram city stated: “Ab Melkh area still needs many infrastructures for tourists, but in terms of security, all possible work has been done, and without a doubt, these protective and preventive measures will reduce accidents.” It has had a great impact on the number of deaths, so that this year we have only had two drownings in the Ab Melkh River.

Suleimanian continued: On holidays, more than 200 cars enter the Ab Melkh area, and surely these tourists read all the warning signs that we have installed and realize the dangers, and if these security measures were not there, we would have faced more problems. In the media, we have also provided the necessary information about the Locust water area.

From May to Mehr, the largest number of tourists arrive at Ab Molkh

He added: We have not left anything short as far as the city is able and we have done about 300 meters of fencing. Two bridges in the water locust area and stairs were also restored. In this summer season, we installed more than 20 warning banners. Most of the tourists visit Ab Melkh area from May to early October, and less tourists go to this area in autumn and winter due to the cold weather. In general, we have closed the roads leading to Ab Melkh River in Takht Sulaiman area and tourists can only go to the danger area by jumping over the fences.

The establishment of a tourist guide in Abu Molkh is on the agenda

The head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department of Semiram city stated that the establishment of tourist guides in Ab Melkh was part of the plans of the Cultural Heritage Department to prevent accidents and said: the infrastructure for this important goal is not ready yet, because when a tourist guide is appointed We assume that all the responsibilities will be on this person and if an unfortunate accident occurs under these circumstances, all the blame will fall on the shoulders of this tourist guide. Also, in order to achieve this goal, a private company should take this responsibility so that the tourist guides are insured and other expenses are covered.

Suleimanian noted: Last year, in cooperation with the Red Crescent Society, we trained 30 local people for rescue and nature tourism. Those who wish to travel to these areas should gather complete information about water locust or any other area before traveling to be aware of the dangers. Of course, if this tourism is done in the form of tourist tours, the risks will be minimized and it will have a great effect on reducing accidents.