EcoLur
The Dzoraget River flows in the territory of Katnarat Village, Lori Region, on which 3 SHPPs have been constructed. “We used to have a river and we went to swim on the river bank with great pleasure, our children swam in the river, but now we don’t have a river any more,” the villagers complained in their interview with EcoLur. “The river water has been cut off and the villagers can’t use water, there is no water.”
“In the past we were happy for the construction of a HPP, as we hoped to have electricity. Nothing is done: all the roads have been destroyed during HPP construction, and didn’t repair them,” Katnarat villagers complained. “And now electricity price is to be increased. Shame on them! People are running away from here,” the villagers got angry.
For our part we would like to mention that SHPPs sell electricity to electric networks, which set tariffs and SHPPs have no right to sell electricity at their own discretion.
Katnarat Village Head Rubik Ghazaryan mentioned the community doesn’t use the Dzoraget water for irrigation purposes. Under him, the community doesn’t have irrigable land areas and irrigation system and they use river water for economic and drinking purposes. Rubik Ghazaryan considers the complaints of the residents as justified and confirms the water doesn’t flow in the river because of SHPP construction and development. “People’s anger is justified, as the river has no water. If they use the river water, 25-30% of the flow must be preserved, but it’s not done. It’s the main problem. The rest has been by Nature Protection Ministry with our consent, as it’s hard to create any working places nowadays,” the village head said and added that 15-20 people are employed at 3 SHPPs, while the village has 1060 people. He also mentioned that 3 SHPPs annually pay 150,000 AMD as land rent fee to the budget of the community.
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.
November 09, 2015 at 13:19