Tehran is ready to fight El Nino

It doesn't matter if it is Nepal or Türkiye and Spain; When a flood occurs, everything from trees to cars and houses are exposed to damage, and only the coordination of institutions and crisis management can prevent the increase in human and financial losses.

According to Ambassador Arjan - for this issue, there is a need for coordination between the institutions and for the operational and relief forces to have acquired the necessary skills. For Tehran this year, the possibility of heavy rains as a result of the El Nino phenomenon and even flooding is predicted, and to prevent the crisis, the forces of 30 units related to the flood and crisis area gathered for 2 days in the Martyrs' Lake of the Persian Gulf (Chitgar) to participate in the fourth skill-building and operational exercise of flood and survival in difficult conditions. But what happened in these maneuvers?

The presence of 30 institutions and organizations related to the flood

As the hands of the clock pass from 9, the northern side of Chitgar Lake is not the only place where tourists and athletes are present, and around the lake, tents are erected one after the other so that the forces of 30 organizations, institutions and relief, operational and service organizations and in fact all the devices related to the issue of flooding can be deployed in them. These devices include emergency, fire, Red Crescent, ABFA, electricity, IRGC, police, universities of medical sciences, and even crisis management headquarters and regional municipalities. Ali Nasir, the head of Tehran's Crisis Prevention and Management Organization, who is constantly monitoring the work, says: 110 tents have been set up in this program and 500 people are participating in training and operational courses.

Acquisition of seven skills for floods

The first day of the fourth skill-building course and operational training of flooding and survival in difficult conditions is dedicated to training. At the edge of the tents, 7 booths have been set up for training classes, each of these training classes is repeated 7 times so that all attendees can learn about working with GPS, crossing water and crossing water safely, rescuing a flood victim, CPR, managing the bodies of flood victims, environmental health, setting up toilets, chlorination and disinfection of contaminated water, and working with various types of skimmer pumps, mud pumps, Rubin, Fox. and flood water discharge pumps to have more information.

The second day of the maneuver is the time to show the learned skills. Red Crescent rescue and emergency vehicles have been stationed in the training area, and tents with different uses have been erected to provide services and support to the forces, and upon announcing the start of the operation, Red Crescent forces search and rescue victims of the supposed accident using Jamina boats, and firefighting diving teams also intervene to provide relief. The forces of Behesht Zahra organization are also present at the training site with body transport vehicles. Other devices, including emergency, water and electricity, also perform their specialized duties. Nasiri says: In this exercise, seven groups consisting of the forces of 5 zones of Tehran city and 2 headquarters groups of men and women are present, and women are also actively participating in the exercise. With this maneuver, a kind of synergy and empathy was formed between the rescue devices and between the rescuers. In fact, if there is a flood, we will rush to help the people more ready than before. Of course, people should pay attention to the necessary warnings. We have learned that if we are involved in war conditions, we should not neglect floods and earthquakes, and therefore we will not delay.

After several hours of effort and rescue, the end of the operation is announced. The head of Tehran's Crisis Prevention and Management Organization, who has been monitoring the teams' activities at all times, says: Tehran has 11 rivers and a number of flood barriers. We have flood bottlenecks in some neighborhoods and areas. Of course, the Khakriz water embankment company of Tehran Municipality has been digging tunnels for the passage of water caused by floods for years. In fact, Tehran needs 700 kilometers of canals and pipes, and 540 kilometers of these underground canals have been built so far.

Nasiri states that the second problem of Tehran is encroachment on riverbeds and riverbeds over the past years and decades and says: We have about 3,000 parcels in Tehran, 75% of which are built on riverbeds and 25% on riverbeds and gorges, which must be removed so that new risks in the field of flooding are not added to the city and unsafe construction is avoided.

Some reasons for the possible occurrence of floods in Tehran

Water exit from gorges and canals

Absence of surface water collection channel in some parts of Tehran

Construction in the bed of rivers and gorges

Throwing garbage by citizens in canals

What did the officials say on the sidelines of the visits?

Majid Bagheri, Vice President of Planning, Human Capital Development and Affairs of Tehran Mayor's Council: After the second and third imposed wars, one of the most prominent priorities of the city administration was to be able to hold maneuvers that, in addition to interdepartmental coordination in various areas of relief and rescue, scenarios for the occurrence of future incidents will be examined and analyzed. As a result, training sessions were held and all 22 areas of Tehran were zoned and each zone practiced based on its own scenario. All these actions have one goal, which is the comfort and peace of Tehrani citizens, so that if an unexpected incident occurs or a war occurs, those who have trained during peace can be at the service of the citizens.

Entry of the prosecution to prevent violations

Mohammad Amin Vahdaninia, deputy of public rights and crime prevention of the Attorney General of the country: holding maneuvers makes us aware of weaknesses. Also, training during maneuvers can be useful and update us. Crisis management means crisis prediction and prevention. Carrying out these maneuvers, especially when the country is preparing and defending, helps to eliminate parallelism and move towards a single coordination. Tehran Municipality Crisis Prevention and Management Organization with its good experiences can be a model in the country and transfer its experiences to all provinces. Provinces should use these experiences so that we can move crisis management towards prevention and prediction. The Prosecutor General's Office is with everyone around the clock. Wherever we feel that the Attorney General should intervene, we will act. Our mission is to deal with people who encroach on river beds and natural resources. Wherever there is a discussion of flood, prediction and prevention, the prosecutors are definitely working on illegal constructions and occupying riverbeds and they act according to legal standards.

Cleaning of canals and canals from September

Alireza Jafari, Director General of Urban Services of Tehran Municipality: In Tehran, there are more than 700 kilometers of canals and main channels for collecting surface water, including open and closed channels. Also, about 10,000 kilometers of open streams direct surface water to underground channels; As a result, since the beginning of September, the dredging of open and closed rivers, canals and channels of water has been placed on the agenda of the regions, and the regions are dredging and cleaning the channels daily and based on the planning and monitoring done so that we do not face problems during rains. On the other hand, due to the approach of fall season, the regions have been obliged to continuously check open watercourses so that leaves, garbage and other wastes do not accumulate in the water path. Valves in need of repair have also been identified and repaired.

Dredging the Ken River for floods

Mohammad Javad Khosravi, Mayor of Region 22: According to the meteorological forecast of rains and floods in the coming months, it was necessary for the municipality to be sufficiently prepared. Due to the type of climate, Region 22 is one of the regions that is most affected by weather conditions, that's why the maneuver is useful for the forces of the region. Of course, some operations have been carried out for prevention. For example, serious dredging of the bed of the Ken river has started, and according to the conditions expected this year, layering and sediment removal is underway.

Mohsen Dodangeh, Mayor of Region 9: Due to the existence of Akbari and Qalqali canals in the area and proximity to the Ken River that passes through the west of Region 9, the issue of sediment removal and dredging of the infrastructure of this area and the creation of accesses for emergency times has been identified and the region has the necessary preparation in this regard. The sediment removal program is still running with a scenario and an instruction.