Tehran, Sept 29, IRNA -- An official of the National Forestry Organization Sunday warned of an impending human catastrophe in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan if desert sand continue to flood the province.

Anti-Desertification Organization Chief Mohammad Jarian said that rolling dunes and moving sandstorms in the province have already inflicted heavy damage to residents from the economic, ecological, social and sanitary points of view.

Jarian said severe sandstorms have drastically buried some 124 villages in the province and have also inundated the Hirmand riverbed up to 40 kilometers inside Afghan territory.

He said reported cases of asthma and eye diseases have increased as a result of the sandstorms that have hit the province.

Jarian also said that a large number of livestock have perished as a result of the destruction of pastures abutting the river's banks.

"These, along with the destruction of thousands of acres of farmlands, the drying up of Hamoun lake and the increased risk of flash floods occurring could lead to a deterioration of the situation in Sistan-Baluchestan," he said.

Jarian also blamed the sandstorms for the increase in the province's unemployment rate and the migration of residents to major cities, stressing that the sandstorms have aggravated the human crisis in the province by cutting water resources and destorying farmlands.

... Payvand News - 9/29/02 ... --