SAEDNEWS: The Iranian government has announced a day of public holiday in the capital, Tehran, amid a scorching heatwave that has caused water and electricity consumption to rise to new highs.
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said on her X account on Sunday that Tehran will be closed on Wednesday, July 23, because of “the continued intense heat” and “the need for controlling water and power consumption”.
Wednesday is the last working day of the week in the capital Tehran. The government hopes families would use the extra holiday to travel to cooler regions in Iran, helping ease pressure on the electrical grid and water supply system in Tehran, a city with a population of nearly 10 million people.
Temperatures have hit over 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Tehran in recent days and are expected to remain high until the weekend.
That has caused a sharp rise in demand for cooling with both households and businesses cranking up their air conditioners to escape the blistering heat.
Many people in Tehran use traditional swamp coolers, which rely on significant amounts of water during hot days.
That has led to a major rise in demand for piped water in Tehran. Iran’s Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi on Sunday confirmed reports that some neighborhoods in the city had received water at lower-than-normal pressure in recent days, according to Press TV.
Aliabadi apologized for the problem and said the local water company in Tehran was forced to lower the pressure to be able to supply water to all citizens.
The Tehran department of the Iran Meteorological Organization issued a yellow warning for high temperatures on Saturday, saying the heat will stay in the city until Wednesday.
“The yellow-level warning means there would be an atmospheric phenomenon which could disrupt the movements and daily routines of the citizens,” the ISNA news agency said, citing the statement.
