The large number of cars has increased traffic jams as well as air pollution.

The number of automobiles in Iran would add up to 25 million by 2020 from the present 5.4 million, irangreenpen.org reported.
This highlights the need for urgent planning by the officialdom with regard to the national traffic system, for the roads and streets cannot even handle the present traffic load.
The large number of cars has intensified traffic snarl-ups in Tehran and several other major cities and increased air pollution to an alarming level.
Phasing out dilapidated vehicles and standardizing locally assembled cars are on the government agenda.
Presently, there is one car for every four Iranian households.
The report added that of this number, 2.7 million cars ply the streets in the capital. Reports suggest a daily 1,400 new automobiles join the already snarled-up traffic chain in Tehran. An increase in domestic car manufacturing capacity in recent years has extended rush hours in the megacity.
Tehrani motorists account for about three-fourths of the national gasoline demand. The locally assembled cars consume higher gasoline than international norms. The large number of rundown vehicles, polluting the environment, is another problem yet to be resolved.

Household and industrial wastewater is the main source of river pollution.

Close to 60 polluted rivers have been identified and the executive programs for cutting pollution in 11 rivers have been approved by the provincial development and programming councils, in line with decisions made last year obliging the Department of Environment to draw up plans for preservation of rivers.
Director general of DoEÕs Office for Studying Water and Soil Pollution, Taqi Ebadi, made the remark, adding, ÒPrograms for reducing river pollution in Bushehr, Hemadan, Kerman, Kermanshah and Qom provinces have been endorsed.Ó
He mentioned urban, rural and industrial wastewater as the top sources of river pollution.
Ebadi said, ÒAs per the law, industrial units without sewerage treatment systems will have to pay cash penalties. Sources of industrial wastewater emissions into 60 major rivers will be identified and blocked within three months.Ó
He went on, ÒAs for urban and rural areas, the household wastewater entering the rivers will also be stopped using funds supplied by the provincial management and planning departments.Ó
Meanwhile, deputy head of DoE for human environment, Yousef Hojjat, criticized the performance of supervisory bodies with regard to illegal industrial and residential constructions on riverbanks. ÒRivers are not only the main source of drinking water, but they are also attractive for tourists. The law has clearly prohibited constructions within a distance of 150 meters from rivers. Still, supervisory organizations continue to issue permits for constructions within the unauthorized areas,Ó he regretted.

An advisor to Department of Environment's Marine Office said as per the London Dumping Convention and the ratification of the High Environment Council, DoE permission should be obtained for emitting any material, even the sludge collected through dredging, into the seawater.
"Therefore, the current dredging operations on Persian Gulf coasts are illegal," Afshin Danehkar told Fars news agency, adding dredging operations, even if authorized by organizations other than the DoE, are against the law.
Stressing that the residues deposited along the jetty and harbor are highly contaminated, he said these are places by which large ships berth. "The vessels leak oil, minerals and chemicals into the water leading to formation of mud and gravel along the dock."
He noted that mud contains numerous hazardous chemicals, heavy metals and hydrocarbon compounds which can lead to the death of aquatics, damage food chains and harm aquatic reproduction.
Danehkar emphasized, "It is of high importance where the mud scooped up by dredging machines is dumped."
He said the mud and gravel scooped up from the Shahid Rajaei harbor is reportedly discharged in an area in the midst of the islands of Qeshm, Lark and Hormuz, threatening the Persian Gulf larvae, fish, shrimps and other marine species.
The expert reiterated that based on the 2004 ratification by the High Environment Council, preliminary studies are a sine qua none for all dredging operations to assess environmental damages.
He said selecting proper locations for harbors would help prevent the amassing of mud and sludge on seashores.

Experts are in constant search of new solutions to ease traffic in populated megacities. Monorail is a mass transportation system that can reduce air pollution and environmental risks associated with it to a large extent.
Deputy head of the Department of Environment for humanitarian affairs, Yousef Hojjat, said monorail in other countries is used to link residential areas to airports, adding the same is pursued in Tehran, the Persian daily Seda-ye Edalat reported.
Hojjat noted that the monorail project designed for Tehran is aimed at reducing traffic load in the megacity.
"The system should be based on extensive expert studies and approved by legal bodies," he added.
He pointed out that the DoE is optimistic about all rail transport systems. "DoE strongly supports establishment of Tehran monorail system," he asserted.
"The present problem is that if installed on the ground level, monorail will reduce space required for cars and if raised above the ground level, it will create noise and visual pollutions. This needs detailed studies to ensure which method has less repercussions than the other."

Iran boasts scores of unrivaled geological phenomena.

Italian documentary filmmaker Teodoro Mercuri is going to make a film of IranÕs geotourism potentials in collaboration with the Iranian Geology Organization.
Director of the Geotourism Project at the organization, Amri Kazemi, told ISNA, ÒAfter my film titled ÔGeo-BeautyÕ was screened at the International Geology Congress held in Florence, Italy in August 2004, Mercuri expressed interest in making a documentary about IranÕs tourism fascinations.Ó
He said, ÒMercuri is going to visit in December so we can start work on a documentary film on QeshmÕs geotourism.Ó
Asked about the reasons why Qeshm was selected as the location, he explained, ÒThe islandÕs geotourism atlas will be out soon. We believe that the film together with the atlas would help the registration of Qeshm geopark in the UNESCO list.Ó
More than 80 percent of unique geological phenomena in the country have been identified and captured on film. Plans are at hand to introduce 10 national geoparks every year.
According to Kazemi, thanks to its matchless geological phenomena, Iran is one of the most wonderful countries.
ÒThe highest sand pyramids, the worldÕs hottest spot in Lout Desert, the vestiges of the worldÕs biggest landslides in Simareh, Ilam province, the worldÕs highest conical peak, Damavand, and the worldÕs highest freshwater lake on top of Sabalan Peak are but a few examples of fascinating geological sites in Iran,Ó he mentioned.

Some 30 tigers have died or been culled from bird flu at the world's largest breeding farm in Thailand taking the death toll from an outbreak there to 83, health officials said.
The endangered young royal Bengal tigers began dying October 14 in the outbreak at the private Sri Racha Tiger Zoo that was believed to have been caused by animals fed with raw infected chickens.
"There are 83 tigers that have died at the zoo now including 50 that were put to death after they had shown symptoms, in order to contain the spread of the virus," Saravudh Suvannababba, head of Thailand's bird flu prevention center, told AFP.
Officials at the zoo, whose tiger population before the outbreak stood at 441, said the culled animals were put down by lethal injection.
They were buried in pits behind the zoo, at Chon Buri province southeast of Bangkok, that were covered with lime and concrete to prevent them from being dug up.
Tiger parts command high prices, notably for traditional Chinese medicines and the zoo has previously been investigated by Thai officials over alleged tiger smuggling.
Chon Buri governor Pisit Ketpasuk said authorities were satisfied with the bird flu suppression measures and did not expect the virus to spread to other tigers.
"I think our measures to stop bird flu (at the zoo) have been satisfactory," he said.
The zoo has been closed to the public since Oct. 19. The remaining tigers are healthy and are being fed minced pork instead of chicken, officials said.
Staff at the zoo have been examined, as have several hundred residents living nearby, with no one showing signs of bird flu infection, Saravudh said.

Canada is home to over 70,000 known plant and animal species.

North Atlantic right whale, western wolverine and the dromedary jumping-slug on Canada's Pacific coast will soon share a dubious distinction, Reuters reported.
They are among 76 species Canadian environmental officials said they planned to add to an official list of animals and plants that are environmentally threatened or at risk of complete extinction.
The decision will bring to 309 the number of species that receive special protection, and the government is considering a recommendation to add 44 more species next year.
"This is by no means a happy announcement," said Trevor Swerdfager, of Environment Canada.
Canada's Species at Risk Act, which took full effect in June, makes it illegal to kill or capture a protected species or destroy its habitat.
Canada is home to more than 70,000 known plant and animal species, many of which are unique to the country, environmental officials say.
Some of the species, such as the wolverine, are considered only of "special concern", while the population and habitat of others, like the right whale have declined so much they are listed as "endangered." The dromedary jumping-slug is considered "threatened."
For four of the 76 species the protection may come too late, and they are classified as "extirpated"--destroyed completely.
Officials acknowledged the public was probably unaware some of the creatures or plants existed at all.
Officials said three species of fish had been considered for listing, but rejected. One was less threatened than originally thought, but two types of sockeye salmon were left off for "socioeconomic reasons."
The Cultus Lake and Sakinaw Lake salmon are less than one percent of the sockeye population, but officials said giving them special protections could have required a costly shutdown of the entire Pacific salmon fishing industry.

Pollution from immersing thousands of Hindu idols in India's sacred Ganges River is threatening dolphins and other aquatic creatures such as turtles, environmentalists said, AFP reported.
Goddess Durga idols, lavishly colored with synthetic paints and embellished with metal ornaments and weapons, are plunged into the Ganges every year in a ceremonial farewell at the end of a major Hindu festival, Dussehra.
"Every year, idols made of plaster of Paris, synthetic materials and a large amount of non-biodegradable colored paints cause severe pollution in the Ganges," said Guddu Baba, who leads a movement to clean up the river considered holy by Hindus.
In the eastern Bihar state capital of Patna alone, nearly 5,000 liters of paint would be released into the Ganges from the liberal amounts of color daubed on every Durga idol, Baba said.
Thousands more idols would be immersed in the Ganges all over eastern India where the Durga festival is the key event on the Hindu calendar. The goddess Durga is worshipped for having vanquished demons and saved humanity.
"In nearly every town along Ganges, thousands of Durga idols are immersed and local authorities don't even think of the environmental threat," said R. K. Sinha, who has been waging a campaign to help the river dolphins.
Sandeep Behera, coordinator for Freshwater Species under India's Freshwater and Wetlands Conservation Program, says river dolphins in the Ganges have dwindled to a few thousand from tens of thousands at the start of last century.
The Ganges is also under heavy pressure from untreated sewage which pours into the river and other pollution.
Government officials say a cleanup of the Ganges began about two decades ago but has succeeded in cutting pollution by less than a third.
The dolphins are not only threatened by pollution. Fishermen also kill them as they consider them a nuisance and a rival for fish.

Sardabeh region on the slopes of Mount Sabalan in Ardebil province (IRNA Photo)