On October 6, 2022, the impact of non-metallic mines on Sevan Lake ecosystem was discussed at the meeting of Lake Sevan Expert Committee of NAS RA.
Khachatur Meliksetyan, Committee Member, Director of Institute of Geological Sciences of NAS RA, presented the problem: "We have collected data on all mines operating in Sevan Lake catchment basin. The picture is very disturbing. Every village opens a slag pit for itself. Eight licenses were issued for exploration and development, but in 2019 the space images showed there were already 38 large and small pits. The space images for 2022 show that the number of pits has increased as compared to the ones for 2019."
Committee Chair, Bardukh Gabrielyan, noted that if there is no noticeable impact on the environment in the case of one mine, their cumulative impact on the environment is obvious. "The aggregate effect of digging those mines is that the landscapes are changing, there may be erosion, landslides, collapses. There may be pastures there. Those in the upper reaches of the rivers cause mechanical pollution of the rivers, affect the ecosystem, because the rivers are the spawning grounds of Sevan fish.
Along with this, we have received applications for the exploration of 20 mines, and this is almost in the same area in the section of Argitchi and Martuni rivers," Bardukh Gabrielyan said.
The other issue on the agenda was related to the cleaning of littoral water-covered and to-be-water-covered areas on the shores of Lake Sevan.
It was reported that during 2019-2021, a contract was signed with "Harutyunyan Shin" LLC to carry out cleaning works in the area of 750 hectares. In 2019, it was planned to clear 98 ha of territory in Tsovak area of Vardenis branch, but 78 ha were cleared. In 2020, 271 hectares were planned to be cleared, but 66 hectares were cleared. At the end of September 2020, the implementation of cleaning works was stopped and cleaning works were not carried out in 2021.
During 2022, it is planned to clean 64.8 hectares of littoral water-covered and to-be-water-covered areas on the shores of Lake Sevan. As of September 12, around 30 hectares of territory has been cleared. "Sevan National Park" SNOC considers it possible to complete the planned works by the end of the year.
Department of Science Popularization and Public Relations of NAS RA
October 10, 2022 at 11:09