Primist

2nd
MAY

Sivand is not that big deal!

Posted by Ali Sanaei under Geography, History and Archeology, Iran

It’s about a year that few cultural and political groups in Iran and mainly out of Iran, are complaining of the construction of Sivand Dam. The main argument is that the dam’s humidity will affect the tomb of “Cyrus (Koroush) the Great” which is located in Passargadae.

:: click on image to enlarge ::

After all we ought to remember that the US government, supported by press and media, are preparing us for an invasion in Iran and are trying to make the country a more acceptable victim. Most of us have serious arguments and criticisms about the government, but that is not a reason for invasion and still allows me to try to assess such topics as this dam by looking at it from all sides (or as many as I can find).

I don’t understand these group’s point and concerns. This dam was designed by Americans before the revolution and was supposed to start by that time. I think the previous regime and people were also sensitive about Iran’s ancient issues as present people. At least, No one made any shouts at that time!

What exactly is the Sivand dam and why is it being built?
Despite the common use of the term “dam” which brings to mind massive constructions such as the Hoover Dam or Amir Kabir Dam, what is being built on the Sivand River is more a “dike” than a “dam“, designed and constructed to store the waters of the relatively small Sivand River, a tributary of the larger Kur River. The Sivand dam is being built to allow more controlled allocation of irrigation water towards thousands of acres of arable lands in the Arsanjan plain, thus substantially expanding its agricultural and pastoral capacity.
Is building of the Sivand dam necessary?
Of course the Sivand dam is not a matter of life and death for the local population, but building it is as necessary as any other dam in a developing country such as Iran.
Would Passargadae be flooded as a result of building Sivand dam?
No; even in the worst case scenario (rising of the lake above its highest predicted level, an unlikely scenario in light of general drought in the region for the past few years) the topography of Tang-e Bolaghi (a narrow valley) versus Passargadae (a plain) would make this impossible.

The Iranian government has done investigations on whether it will have major damages on the tomb, the result should be “No, it won’t”. Otherwise, we could be sure that the first organisation which will head in this between will be UNESCO. Like what they did a year ago for Isfahan’s Naghsh-e Jahan case when they forced Iran to stop constructing the Jahan-Nama tower close to the Naghsh-e Jahan square.

Reader's Comments

1. Hoda | May 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 am

   nice blog!

2. Persian Snake | May 3rd, 2007 at 9:52 am

   you write your articles like professional journalists, congratulations mr ali

3. Koroush Saghir | May 3rd, 2007 at 9:53 am

   “whether it will have MAJOR damages on the tomb”
   yani faghat age MAJOR DAMAGE bashe eshkali hast? age damage khali bashe eshkali nis?

4. Hooman Kazemi | May 3rd, 2007 at 9:54 am

   shoma ke migi in abha mire too tange bolaghi, khode tange bolaghi ke jaye tarikhiye ke!

5. Anthony | May 3rd, 2007 at 9:57 am

   if it is really as what ur sayin in the above, then yeah, its not a big deal.
   by the way, very smooth writing, well done. keep it on mate.

6. Kourosh Eslamzade - Canada | May 3rd, 2007 at 3:58 pm

   Hi,
   Thanks for your interest to be in Persian Bloggers List. Unfortunately, the list contians the bloggers who write in Persian. I indexed your lovely blog for upcoming English List.
   Regards,

7. Martzban | May 4th, 2007 at 2:33 pm

   Hi Ali jan,
   I already did check your web log, that was great,
   omidvaram ke hamishe bedoone gharaz va bitarafane akhbar va mataleb ro unja gharar bedy,
   omidvaram dar ayande ye fekrayee ham baraye dashtane mataleb be zabane farsi ham bokoni,
   chon hamuntor ke midooni bishtare mokhatabhaye shoma iraniha hastan
   va momkene kheyli az una hoseleye khundane mataleb be englisi ro nadashte bashan,
   any way, Take care and god bless you.

8. soudabeh | May 4th, 2007 at 9:36 pm

   Well Pasargad won’t be flooded, but tange-bolaghi sure will, and they have found things from 7500 years ago there, the archaeologic investigations stopped a while ago, but no reports have been published yet, and some of the archaeologists believe that the work is not done yet, this place which was the passway of the most important path in ancient Iran may have a lot more to tell us, if flooded the chance is lost forever. And as for pasargad they say that because of the type of soil humidity will cause damage faster than its natural pace.
   In my opinion it’s not the matter of who designed the dam or who shouted or did not!! It’s a matter of insuffiecient knowledge before designing or starting a project, or even lack of sensitivity. A lot of similar things(damages by different means) have happened before and are happening right now which we’re not aware of. That doesn’t mean they are not important issues!
   I personally believe that we have neglected our culture and heritage for a very long time. That’s why there is not enough knowledge about these issues, You can hardly find good books(in languages other than farsi), in most great museums you can find a big section dedicated to iran, but there is an aura of silence around them most of the times. A lot of great monuments and sites and discovered things have been damaged or not preserved correctly through out years, and it may be interesting to know that in 1965 Huot(an archaeologist) wrote in his book :”Excavations in Iran have been carried out in a scientific manner only for some thirty years.”, It’s less than a century now, there are still a lot to find out, So if they believe a place like tange-bolaghi has important stuff in it(and they have found many things there) IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A CHANCE TO CONTINUE INVESTIGATIONS!
   Sorry that I wrote too much:).

9. S. Karami | May 5th, 2007 at 11:04 pm

   I totally agree with you

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