EcoLur
Debed village, Lori Region, is located on the slope of Gugarq forests. The right tributary to the Pambak River, Chanakhchi, flows through the village, which is also known as Alareks. A SHPP has been operating on the river since 1997. The SHPP station is on the edge of the Debed River, while the water intake section is in the forest. In reply to EcoLur’s question on the social programs implemented by the SHPP for the village, the SHPP director said, “We support the school: every August we learn the number of first grade pupils and buys bags, pens, notebooks and training outwear for them. We also allot funds to the rural municipality for the internal lighting of the village.”
Debed villagers’ answer to the same question was different:
-In any case, the village doesn’t benefit from it, just the contrary, water get less. At the beginning, we were promised to have free-of-charge light in the streets, but so far the village has nothing from it.
EcoLur: They say they have allotted money to the rural municipality for the village to have lighting.
Villager: The SHPP has been operating for several years, so why we don’t have light, if they have allotted money to the rural municipality?
EcoLur: Is there any fish in the river?
Villager: Yes, brown trout, trout… to a certain extent, in little amount, can’t be compared with the past.
EcoLur: How would you assess the sanitary state of the river?
Villager: I would say polluted. They have a reservoir upwards, they let off water when cleaning, the water gets dark, then it gets clean.
EcoLur: Does the SHPP disturb the irrigation?
Villagers: No, it doesn’t… we don’t have any irrigation water here at all. Our spring is different, we take our drinking water from there.
EcoLur: What are your proposals? What would you like the SHPP to do for you?
Villagers: To have lighting in our village… we would like them to give a helping hand and to create something good in this village. We need an organizer to build a hospital. If someone dies, the village doesn’t have a hospital. There is a medical point, where you go and beg to make an injection, that’s it.
It should be mentioned that the lack of water in the river has no relation with the SHPP, as the SHPP returns water to the river, while residential houses are located in the upper section. Nevertheless, the SHPP director mentioned that water flows had reduced, “In recent 4-5 years the river water flows in our region have reduced by about 40%,” he said and added they need to review water usage permit data. “Our permit says we are entitled to use annually 28,500,000 cum water, but we can maximum use from 13 million to 13.5 million. For example, in June we were entitled to use 5,400,000 cum water, but the river didn’t have so much water. I would be happy to have water for three turbines to operate.”
The material has been prepared in the frames of “Support to the Reforms of SHPPs through a Dialogue between the Public and The Ministry of Nature Protection of the RA for the Purpose of River Ecosystem Use” project.
September 01, 2015 at 11:31