By Ivor Morgan, Country Director in
Bam, Iran
Hopes are rising of a successful harvest
in Bam this year, as work proceeds on clearing essential irrigation ditches
that were damaged by the recent devastating earthquake.
Bam is famous for its succulent dates, which grow in palm groves and gardens throughout the city. The dates are ripened by the bright desert sun, but for water they rely on an ingenious ancient system of underground tunnels and surface channels, which carries water from the distant snow-capped mountains to the heart of this historic city.
Measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, the earthquake on the 26th December was perhaps the worst in over 15 years. It killed up to 41,000 people, while injuring 30,000 more, and leaving 75,000 homeless. Most of the surviving population are still living in tents, amongst the ruins of their former homes.
As a mainstay of local agriculture, date-farming will be essential to rebuilding the shattered economy, and enabling people to regain control of their own livelihoods. The Ministry of Agriculture reports that over 80% of Bam's population are farmers - and that more than 500km of irrigation channels were blocked by the earthquake when walls or buildings collapsed into them. With spring rapidly approaching, the date palms will soon need regular watering in order to provide a harvest in September. So, the race is on to re-open the irrigation channels before this crucial opportunity is lost. "If the date-palms are not watered, they will become dry - and the earthquake will have caused a second round of damage" explains Ali Reza Khani, an engineer with the relief agency Medair.
Medair is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture to clear the irrigation channels in certain sectors of the city. A mechanical excavator clears the worst of the rubble, but where possible, teams of labourers dig out the actual channels. The teams can work amongst the palm trees themselves, where an excavator cannot reach, and their careful work also avoids further damage to the linings of the channels. Furthermore, this approach provides essential employment for people who may otherwise have had no form of income since the earthquake.
Local people recognise the importance of this work. Farmer Reza Saidan survived the earthquake along with his wife and children, although his parents and siblings all died. Standing amongst his date-palms, a stone's throw from the famous mud-brick Arg-e-Bam citadel, he is aware that this palm-grove is crucial for his family's future livelihood: "We live by these trees", he says. The ground underfoot is dry and cracked - blocked channels mean it has not been possible to irrigate this garden since the earthquake.
However, thanks to the work carried out by Medair and the Ministry of Agriculture, Reza hopes to be able to irrigate his date-palms within the coming days. "As long as the water is here by next week," he says, "we won't have lost anything , we should get as a good a harvest as in previous years."
Meanwhile, Medair is endeavouring to open as many more channels as possible, to ensure other farmers like Reza have the opportunity to gain a harvest this year.