By Soudabeh
Sadigh
With gathering in front of Iran’s Ministry of
Energy and Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, a large number of
cultural heritage enthusiasts stressed their objections to the inundation of
Sivand Dam.
Tehran, 7 February 2007 (CHN)
-- Today a larger number of cultural heritage enthusiasts gathered in front of
Iran’s Ministry of Energy to voice their objections against inundation of Sivand
Dam in Fars province with holding placards. With attendance of a representative
of the Public Relations Department and some of the authorities of the Ministry
who succeeded in calming down the angry crowd with promising them that the
flooding of the dam will not be started until getting the formal permission of
the President of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO),
protesters left the area for ICHTO to continue their objections.
Evidence show that the protesters confronted with
severe reaction of the guard of the Organization who wanted to confiscated their
photographs.
Placards in the crowd read: “Preserving
cultural heritage is preserving the cultural values of a country. Protecting
cultural heritage is as important as protecting the geographical borders of a
country. With inundation of Sivand Dam what will be your answer to next
generations? Rescue historical sites in Sivand region. Save Pasargadae. With
inundation of Sivand Dam, what will happen for Iran’s cultural heritage and
ecosystem? What a high cost for producing energy. What a pity, Iran is getting
lost.”
Bolaghi Gorge
The outcome of the objections was that protesters
succeeded in winning the approval of the counselor of the President of ICHTO to
hold a session with attendance of authorities of ICHTO, Iran’s Ministry of
Energy, and NGOs to discuss the case in detail to reach to a conclusion about
inundation of the dam.
Dam construction has become one of the nightmares
of Iranian cultural heritage enthusiasts in the recent years. Although
economically important, constructions of dams in Iran have threatened the
country’s rich cultural heritage. One of the most important examples of such is
construction of Sivand Dam in Bolaghi Gorge, Iranian Fars province, which is an
important archeological site close to the world heritage site of Pasargadae.
This issue raised many concerns and created rumors across the country saying
that some anonymous groups have vowed to destroy the dam by explosives.
