Sivand Dam's Inundation Postponed for 6 Months

Sivand Dam's Inundation Postponed for 6 Months

http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2005/November2005/30-11.htm

30 November 2005 - Head of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Committee
in Iran'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
since the archaeological excavations in the region will not be
completed by then, the inundation of the dam has been postponed for two
seasons by decision of the cultural heritage and tourism committee of
the parliament.

Recently, the Iranian-Italian joint archeological team succeeded to
unearth 30 rural houses belonging to the Achaemenid era in Sivand Gorge
(also known as Golaghi) 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 parliament alongside some experts of the
Ministry of Energy visited Sivand Dam and were given briefings on the
process of archaeological excavations in Sivand Gorge.

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 Sivand Gorge, emphasizing the fact 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 Sivand Gorge
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 Sivand Gorge 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 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.

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