40 percent of the population of Tehran province elsewhere.
It was widely expected that Ahmadi-nejad’s mass move plans would be quietly dropped given the negative reception they have received from the public. But the president has not shied away at all.
He told a group of Tehran province civil servants Sunday to make sure the moves got underway.
When first announced a few months ago, Ahmadi-nejad emphasized the threat from earthquakes as the main reason for thinning out Tehran’s population. But Sunday, he added other motivations.
With such a densely populated area, he said, people waste time, get stuck in traffic, suffer from air pollution, are forced to live in cramped apartments and just plain get nervous. Living costs are also higher and the water supply in the Tehran area is limited, he added.
“We cannot order people to evacuate the city,” he said. “But provisions have to be made.” He earlier unveiled incentives such as reimbursement for moving costs and bonuses for government employees who agree to move out of the area.
Ahmadi-nejad gave detailed numbers on how many he wants moved. He said 5 million of the 12.3 million living in the province should go elsewhere. That is 40 percent.
Of the 8 million people in the city of Tehran, 3 million or 38 percent should go elsewhere. Of the 4.3 million living outside the city of Tehran but within the province of Tehran, 2 million or 47 percent should go. He didn’t explain why he wanted to get rid of a greater proportion of the people in the province than in the city.
Ahmadi-nejad also ordered government managers to make preparations by Now Ruz so that 40 percent of civil servants can telework and reduce the congestion on the streets.
Only a few thousand government employees are reported to have volunteered to move out of Tehran.
Earthquake planners generally say the best way to address the earthquake threat would be to enforce building standards. They also point out that most other cities in Iran are also subject to earthquakes.