Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – December 14, 1995

First, we went to Mehrabad airport and immediately flew to East Azerbaijan. Mehdi, Kazem, [Hamid] Mirzadeh, [Mortaza] Mohammad Khan, [Bijan Namdar] Zanganeh, Hossein [Marashi] and [Mohsen Mojtahed] Shabestri, Imam Juma of Tabriz and representatives of the province were with him. At half past eight in the morning, we landed at Sahand Airport - between Maragheh, Malkan and Benab. With the welcome of the regional managers, we moved towards the village of Arouq. After opening the pumping station

I spoke a few sentences with the people of the village who had gathered water from Zarine River for 3,500 hectares, which is a part of the big plan of the regional irrigation network.

We went to the north of Maragheh to open the big Alaviyan dam. The briefing ceremony of the direct dam project was broadcast on Channel One. Mr. Zanganeh and Engineer Kian Far explained; It was built with 5.8 billion tomans and 14 million dollars and regulates 123 million cubic meters of water. With 25 million cubic meters, it was built for the drinking water of Maragheh city and 100 million cubic meters for agriculture. The roar of the water from the drain pipe was very beautiful.

The contractor is from the private sector; Pega Corporation, for giving them the field to undertake such grand and honorable projects. After lunch, we went to the south of Maragheh and opened the first diversion dam of the five diversion dams of the plan; This is also interesting, and with the completion of this network, the waters of the two nearby rivers, Sufi and Maruf Chai, will be controlled and will prevent the loss or waste of 200 million cubic meters of water per year. In the briefing ceremony, I had a short talk about the importance of this project, in line with which the region will be completely transformed. On the way, people had meetings in the streets and on the side of the road and expressed their feelings; The view of the diversion dam water discharge was also pleasant.

We returned to the airport and flew to Tabriz. After welcoming the officials, we drove to the Nahand dam. It was 50 kilometers on the Ahar road. Mr. [Mohsen Mojtahed] Shabestri, [Imam Juma Tabriz] said Khair Moghaddam and Mr. Zanganeh and Kianfar explained. By spending four billion tomans, a dam, a water treatment plant and a water transmission line to Tabriz have been built. The contractor of the dam is one of the companies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which did it cheaply and regulates 32 million cubic meters of fresh water for drinking in Tabriz city. I also spoke briefly about the importance of water containment measures and mentioned five other large dams under construction in East Azerbaijan. It is snowing a little. I responded to the feelings of the people of Nahand village who had gathered.

We moved to Tabriz. We visited the vast lake of Shahid Madani Dam, which is under construction. It has an area of ​​50 square kilometers and the town goes under water. On the way [Mr. Ali Abdul Alizadeh], the governor, gave good explanations. A lot has been done.

We immediately flew to Tehran. From the opportunity on the way, we negotiated with the companions about current works and construction projects and financial needs. from

I went to Hamshirezadeh's house at the airport to see his mother. They are better. I said goodbye to Tabieh, who is going to Mecca, and came home.