EcoLur
According to RA Minister of Environment Erik Grigoryan's decrees as of August 13, 2019, water use permits issued for the operation of “Gegharot” SHPP by El-Kas LLC and “Aragats-1” SHPP by Vakuflo LLC on the Gegharot River were suspended.
According to the decrees, the Ministry has studied the terms of water use permit N 000029 issued to "El-Kas" LLC in 2017 and water use permit N 000166 issued to "Vakuflo" LLC in 2012 for the operation of the hydroelectric power plants and found out that the companies operate their own SHPPs in violation of the water use permit terms.
“It turned out that after the SHPP drainage, there is a qualitative change in the water resource. Meanwhile, the water use permit has stated that there is no qualitative change in water resources after drainage,” the two ministerial decrees said.
It should be reminded that residents of Aragats village, Aragatsotn Region, have repeatedly complained about the operation of "Gegharot" and "Aragats-1" SHPPs. Since March 2019, they have been protesting demanding the cessation of SHPPs altogether as their water quality has changed as a result of their operation while the crop irrigated with this water gets spoilt.
October 17, 2019 at 13:58