Islamic regime' Ministry of Energy has announced that Sivand
Dam in Fars province will become operational in December this year, which means
that archaeologists have only nine months to save the 129 monuments and archaeological
sites which are located along Bolaghi Pass, reported Persian service of CHN.
The 18-kilometer Bolaghi Pass is located eight kilometers from Pasargadae and
constitutes part of its landscape. According to experts, sections of the
Imperial (Shahi)
Road, which is the most important ancient road in the country and was
constructed on the order of Darius the Great of the third King of Kings of Achaemenid
dynasty, was located
along Bolaghi Pass.
The road links Pasargadae to Takht-e Jamshid (Persepolis) and Shoush (Susa). Some ancient
relics have been found along the pass features including those belonging to the
cave dwellers and settlements dating back from the before common era to the
Post-Sasanid period.
Director of the Sivand Dam construction project, Saeed Jameai said that the
project has so far shown a physical progress of 65 percent and it is scheduled
to become operational in mid-January.
Noting that some 200 billion rials has so far been spent on the project and the
same amount has been set aside for its completion, he said that if the project
goes according to schedule, the archaeologists have nine months to save the archaeological
sites located in the region.
“We have announced our readiness to put some facilities at their disposal to
expedite the operations,“ Jameai said.
While the director of the project announced that the dam will be completed in
nine months, archaeologists have predicted that it will take four years complete
the project to retrieve the historical artifacts in the area.
Director of Iran-Italian excavation team engaged in Bolaghi Pass, Ali Reza
Asgari said that four years is needed to save the sites and if the commissioning
of the dam is not delayed, only a small section of the site can be explored.
Some groups from France, England, Poland, Germany, Australia and Japan are due
to help Iranian experts in the operations to save the sites.
Source: Iran
Daily
