About 200 people gathered at an action in protection of Trchkan waterfall in Armenia

Yesterday, November, 1, about 200 people gathered in front of the Ministry of Nature Preservation of Armenia in order to stand up for maintenance of Trchkan, the most full-flowing waterfall of the republic. The participants of the action handed the Minister of Nature Preservation Aram Arutiunyan their statement consisting of seven demands.

According to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Civil initiative "Save Trchkan Fall" demanded that the Ministry should first of all acknowledge invalid the decree of the Armenian Government adopted on July, 15, 2004, on alteration of the category of lands according to which the territory of village community Metz Parni, Lori district, with an area of one hectare was moved to the category of objects of transport, communications and municipal infrastructure for the purpose of building a hydro-power station.

The participants of the action also demanded including this territory into the zone of Trchkan fall acknowledged as a hydrologic natural memorial and establishing safeguard regime there.

According to of the participants' demand, expert opinion on the influence of the hydro-power station upon environment of June, 21, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Nature Preservation for "Robshin" limited company and a number of licenses should also been acknowledged invalid and the damage to the nature should be undone.

A demand was also put forward to invite within the shortest possible time non-governmental organizations and experts and patent the passport of Trchkan fall as a hydrologic memorial of Armenia.

"We will be consistent in our demands", Arman Vermishyan, representative of Civil initiative "Save Trchkan fall", emphasized. He also remarked that the struggle in protection of Trchkan fall was not an action against a particular private company building the hydro-power station. According to him, this struggle is aimed against the unlawful decisions which allow the construction company to carry out its activities. Vermishyan said that the participants of the action had no problems with "Robshin" limited company.

According to the civil pressure group, as of today about 30 activists are on duty in tents near Trchkan fall and take turns from time to time. "However, there are some participants of a sit-in trike who have never left their "post" since the first day of the action, Vermishyan said.

It should be reminded that since October, 30, the pressure group "Save Trchkan fall" started collecting signatures against building the low hydro-power station on the fall. The activists are collecting signatures in the streets of Yerevan and even in offices. 7000 signatures have been collected as of today.

"Two days ago we received the news that the opposite party was also collecting signatures in support of building the hydro-power station, Vermishyan says. - However, the leaflets are printed the way that people see "yes" on one side of the page and "no" one the other and so, they get puzzled. Besides, as far as we know, this signature collection was carried out only in the settlement of Metz Parni while we have already stated that the problem of Trchkan is no longer a problem of this settlement only".

According to Arevik Zatikyan, employee of Department of Information and PR of the Ministry of Nature Preservation of Armenia, the management "will discuss the demands moved forward by the participants of the action and take the respective decision".

Ecologist Apres Zograbyan, in his turn, said that there would also be discussions with Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan.

Meanwhile, "Robshin" limited company has already announced that the works were stopped and the techniques were being removed from the building site near Trchkan fall.

After that non-governmental informational organization "Ecolur" and Civil initiative "We won't keep silence" issued a joint statement calling the declaration of "Robshin" limited company just a "manoeuvre to distract public attention from the problem".

The statement also runs that the decision of the construction company has no legal effect until the permission of water consumption singed by the Minister of Nature Preservation and the positive nature conservation expert opinion remain in force.