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FIGHTING HYDROS: ARMENIAN VILLAGE RESIDENTS OPPOSE GOVERNMENT PLANS TO "HARNESS" THEIR RIVER
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
12.10.12 | 14:48
A fresh tide of environmental protest is starting in Armenia - this
time against the construction of a hydro-power plant in the Ijevan
preserve. Ecologists say the construction will damage the entire
eco-system of the area and will increase landslides.
Enlarge Photo
The Government had approved the construction on the Paghjur
(Khachaghbyur) river in the northeastern Tavush province of Armenia.
The site for the second hydro-power plant on the same river is below
the Lastiver waterfall.
The Lastiver waterfall and a rare "two-storey" cave there are among
the best natural sights in Armenia. The place is covered with virgin
and dense forests and rich flora, while the Paghjur is famous for
its trout, which is now included in the Red Book of endangered species.
"This is simply genocide against our nature, our amazing nature will
become hell, as landslides already now have increased in our areas. If
they go on with this construction project and the forest is logged,
our villages will one day be buried," Getahovit resident Artur Avagyan
told ArmeniaNow.
Environmentalists and villagers of the 2,000-strong rural community
say the construction company, Megaenergy Ltd., is acting illegally,
as it has no proper documentation on the allocation of land and
findings of environmental expert examinations.
Land was allotted to the company by the head of the nearby Yenokavan
community only to find later that the actual construction would be
in Getahovit. With a September 14 resolution the Yenokavan mayor
invalidated his previous construction permit.
Meanwhile, construction continues. A group of environmentalists who
were at the site two days ago say they witnessed the destruction of a
large part of the "Arjatkhleni" Reserve. They say about a dozen pieces
of heavy construction machinery, including bulldozers and tractors,
"invaded" the reserve, uprooting rare trees known in Armenian as
"Arjatkhleni" and in English as Turkish hazel (this tree is native
to southeast Europe and southwest Asia).
The company's CEO Yerem Sargsyan, who first introduced himself to
the protestors as an environmentalist and only then confessed he was
the constructor, gave assurances that "no tree has been cut". He also
told the green activists to "shut up".
Teghut Defense Initiative member Artur Grigoryan said sarcastically:
"Yes, they are not cutting trees, they are just uprooting them with
bulldozers."
Under the design, a three-kilometer-long pipeline is to pass through
a narrow, wooded valley. It will take up to ten meters in width,
which means that about 30,000 square meters of forest area will be
destroyed only because of the construction of this pipe.
"We only need to understand what landslide processes will arise because
of the logging of these hillside trees, this is a crime fraught with
catastrophic consequences," Trchkan civil initiative group member,
geographer Levon Galstyan told ArmeniaNow.
A positive environmental assessment, done by an affiliate of the
Ministry of Nature Protection emphasizes that trees will not be cut.
(The examination was conducted two months after the launch of the
construction project.)
"What is called examination is just a copy-paste from other documents,
only names are changed. I asked the expert if he knew there was a
dense forest there and if yes, how could he write that no tree would
be cut. He says he was told by the village mayor that there was no
forest. The examiner never visited the place," says Galstyan.
Deputy head of the Environmental Expertise state non-commercial
organization Henrikh Grigoryan told ArmeniaNow that a proper
examination was conducted in the area. "I'll once again check, we'll
clarify things," he added, however.
Village residents already feel the negative consequences of another
hydropower plant that was constructed on the same river three years
ago. This plant is owned by opposition Free Democrats Party head
Khachatur Kokobelyan's family. The residents say the river has become
shallow and farmers' agricultural fields remain without irrigation.
"We don't have water for months, and soon we're going to have to
forget about agriculture. If another hydro is built, all villagers
will just leave," 54-year-old Getahovit resident Stephan Dallakyan
tells ArmeniaNow.
Villagers say they won't stop their fight and will go on holding
protests near the Government building in Yerevan where Minister of
Nature Protection Aram Harutyunyan received some of them on Thursday.
After hearing the evidence and arguments, the minister ordered
setting up a commission to examine the case. He also suggested that
the building company "temporarily" halt the construction.
However, this appears to be only part of a broader issue as
environmentalists are concerned over government plans to encourage the
construction of small hydropower plants in the country. Permissions for
building as many as 70 such hydropower plants have already been issued
and the total number of such facilities is expected to be around 300.
"As many as 140 small hydropower plants have already been built in
Armenia, and 70 more are under construction. Still, no studies have
been conducted to assess how the construction of these plants will
affect their respective areas, meanwhile that could spell a disaster
for the entire ecosystem," says Ecolur NGO head Inga Zarafyan.
Environmentalists are convinced that their fight will produce a result
as it happened in the case with Trchkan, another waterfall where a
hydropower plant construction had been planned but was eventually
foiled by environmental protests last year.
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
12.10.12 | 14:48
A fresh tide of environmental protest is starting in Armenia - this
time against the construction of a hydro-power plant in the Ijevan
preserve. Ecologists say the construction will damage the entire
eco-system of the area and will increase landslides.
Enlarge Photo
The Government had approved the construction on the Paghjur
(Khachaghbyur) river in the northeastern Tavush province of Armenia.
The site for the second hydro-power plant on the same river is below
the Lastiver waterfall.
The Lastiver waterfall and a rare "two-storey" cave there are among
the best natural sights in Armenia. The place is covered with virgin
and dense forests and rich flora, while the Paghjur is famous for
its trout, which is now included in the Red Book of endangered species.
"This is simply genocide against our nature, our amazing nature will
become hell, as landslides already now have increased in our areas. If
they go on with this construction project and the forest is logged,
our villages will one day be buried," Getahovit resident Artur Avagyan
told ArmeniaNow.
Environmentalists and villagers of the 2,000-strong rural community
say the construction company, Megaenergy Ltd., is acting illegally,
as it has no proper documentation on the allocation of land and
findings of environmental expert examinations.
Land was allotted to the company by the head of the nearby Yenokavan
community only to find later that the actual construction would be
in Getahovit. With a September 14 resolution the Yenokavan mayor
invalidated his previous construction permit.
Meanwhile, construction continues. A group of environmentalists who
were at the site two days ago say they witnessed the destruction of a
large part of the "Arjatkhleni" Reserve. They say about a dozen pieces
of heavy construction machinery, including bulldozers and tractors,
"invaded" the reserve, uprooting rare trees known in Armenian as
"Arjatkhleni" and in English as Turkish hazel (this tree is native
to southeast Europe and southwest Asia).
The company's CEO Yerem Sargsyan, who first introduced himself to
the protestors as an environmentalist and only then confessed he was
the constructor, gave assurances that "no tree has been cut". He also
told the green activists to "shut up".
Teghut Defense Initiative member Artur Grigoryan said sarcastically:
"Yes, they are not cutting trees, they are just uprooting them with
bulldozers."
Under the design, a three-kilometer-long pipeline is to pass through
a narrow, wooded valley. It will take up to ten meters in width,
which means that about 30,000 square meters of forest area will be
destroyed only because of the construction of this pipe.
"We only need to understand what landslide processes will arise because
of the logging of these hillside trees, this is a crime fraught with
catastrophic consequences," Trchkan civil initiative group member,
geographer Levon Galstyan told ArmeniaNow.
A positive environmental assessment, done by an affiliate of the
Ministry of Nature Protection emphasizes that trees will not be cut.
(The examination was conducted two months after the launch of the
construction project.)
"What is called examination is just a copy-paste from other documents,
only names are changed. I asked the expert if he knew there was a
dense forest there and if yes, how could he write that no tree would
be cut. He says he was told by the village mayor that there was no
forest. The examiner never visited the place," says Galstyan.
Deputy head of the Environmental Expertise state non-commercial
organization Henrikh Grigoryan told ArmeniaNow that a proper
examination was conducted in the area. "I'll once again check, we'll
clarify things," he added, however.
Village residents already feel the negative consequences of another
hydropower plant that was constructed on the same river three years
ago. This plant is owned by opposition Free Democrats Party head
Khachatur Kokobelyan's family. The residents say the river has become
shallow and farmers' agricultural fields remain without irrigation.
"We don't have water for months, and soon we're going to have to
forget about agriculture. If another hydro is built, all villagers
will just leave," 54-year-old Getahovit resident Stephan Dallakyan
tells ArmeniaNow.
Villagers say they won't stop their fight and will go on holding
protests near the Government building in Yerevan where Minister of
Nature Protection Aram Harutyunyan received some of them on Thursday.
After hearing the evidence and arguments, the minister ordered
setting up a commission to examine the case. He also suggested that
the building company "temporarily" halt the construction.
However, this appears to be only part of a broader issue as
environmentalists are concerned over government plans to encourage the
construction of small hydropower plants in the country. Permissions for
building as many as 70 such hydropower plants have already been issued
and the total number of such facilities is expected to be around 300.
"As many as 140 small hydropower plants have already been built in
Armenia, and 70 more are under construction. Still, no studies have
been conducted to assess how the construction of these plants will
affect their respective areas, meanwhile that could spell a disaster
for the entire ecosystem," says Ecolur NGO head Inga Zarafyan.
Environmentalists are convinced that their fight will produce a result
as it happened in the case with Trchkan, another waterfall where a
hydropower plant construction had been planned but was eventually
foiled by environmental protests last year.