The northeastern province of North Khorasan has been engulfed by a thick cloud of dust for the past two days, causing breathing difficulties for thousands of people, head of the province’s Department of Environment, Reza Shekarian, stated on Sunday.
“Roughly 200,000 hectares of land in the southern parts of the province are directly linked to the storms of sand and dust,” Shekarian was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Decline in rainfall, droughts, abandonment of agricultural fields after harvests, rivers drying up, drop in dam water supplies, and the destruction of pastures due to the overgrazing of livestock were among the reasons Shekarian pointed to for the dangerous levels of air pollution gripping the region.
Constructions and the nearby Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan were also contributing to the hazardous state that has disrupted the daily lives of people in North Khorasan.
According to Shekarian, the air would once again be safe to breathe by Sunday noon, “It is estimated that air quality will improve by noon today.”
For the past few years, the problem of sand and dust storms have intensified in Iran, prompting officials to mobilize collective regional action to tackle the issue.