Iran has increased access to clean water for people living in the countryside by more than 10 times in eight years, shows a report, as the country presses ahead with its massive rural empowerment plans.
The Thursday report by the official IRNA news agency said piped water had reached more than 12,500 villages across Iran that are home to 8.3 million people since the government started a campaign in 2013 to expand access to clean water in rural regions.
The figure is a 10-fold increase on the number of people who had access to drinking water in Iranian villages in 2013, said the report, adding that piped water would reach another one million villagers across Iran when the current administrative government leaves office next summer.
Iran has tapped its sovereign wealth fund to expand access to safe water in rural areas, said the report, adding that an average of 34 villages have been connected to water pipelines as part of the drive.
The campaign is part of a larger rural empowerment scheme in Iran as tens of thousands of villages have been provided with key infrastructure, including safe roads, electricity, natural gas pipelines and high-speed internet.
Nearly all villages in Iran have currently access to electricity, which is well above global average, while rural households have been provided with a stable source of energy through an extensive network of natural gas pipelines.
The government embarked on a major project last year to link thousands of more villages to its high-speed internet network amid growing demand for online services during the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.