Sivand Dam’s Inundation Postponed for 6 Months

News Category: Cultural

Head of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Committee in Islamic republic's parliament, Hassan Abbasi, announced the postponement of the inundation of Sivand Dam for at least two seasons.

“Sivand Dam flooding is put back until the end of the archaeological excavations in the region and if experts confirm that the inundation of Sivand Dam will cause any harm to the historical sites of the region, then the parliament will fulfill its legal duties in this respect,” said Abbasi to CHN correspondent.

Sivand Dam was supposed to be flooded by end of February 2006, but as the result of pressure from Iranian nation and the international community the inundation of the dam has been postponed for two further archaeological seasons.

Recently, the Iranian-Italian joint archeological team succeeded to unearth 30 rural houses belonging to the Achaemenid dynastic era in Bolaghi valley and a cemetery next to the village.

According to Mohammad Hasan Talebian, director of Parse-Pasargadae Research Center, more studies should still be carried out on the cemetery and the archaeological excavations in the region should be completed before the flooding of Sivand Dam.

The Cultural Commission of the regime's parliament alongside some experts of the Ministry of Energy visited Sivand Dam and were given briefings on the process of archaeological excavations in the valley.

According to Abbasi, deputy of the Cultural Secretariat of UNESCO in his visit of the site also expressed his satisfaction of the trend of archaeological excavations in Bolaghi Valley, allegedly emphasising that Sivand Dam flooding will cause no harm to Pasargadae.

A lot of issues were considered during the visit of members of the parliament from Sivand Dam, such as the degree of harm by the reservoir at its highest level to the historical site of Pasargadae, how much the delay in the flooding of the dam will be helpful in continuation of the excavations, and studying the possibility of carrying out the irrigation project while saving the cultural and historical heritage.

The amount of harm caused by the gasses produced by the refineries nearby and security issues of the tourists who will come to visit Pasargadae were other issues which were studied by members of the parliament.

“The parliament has some demands from Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization and the Ministry of Energy, which should be fulfilled by these two organizations,” said Delijan city deputy in the parliament.

According to him, continuing archaeological excavations of Bolaghi to a specific level, forming an expert group to determine the possible harms to the Pasargadae, and establishing a museum with the required standards for preserving the articles unearthed in valley are the demands of the Parliament from the ICHTO.

“Ministry of Energy should as well determine the exact level of the reservoir after flooding of the dam and its effect on the underground water resources of Pasargadae to make it clear how much these resources will increase and determine how much harm they will cause to Pasargadae,” said director of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Committee of the Cultural Commission of the Parliament.

Abbasi also announced the efforts of the regime's parliament and Ministry of Energy to provide a humidity control instrument with the help of UNESCO, “the instrument will determine the degree of humidity and its effect on the erosion of Pasargadae stones, and whenever the humidity is high and harmful for the site, the inundation should be brought to a lower level just to supply for the needs of the region,” explained Abassi.