14:21, 19 March 2014

Residents of Aragatsotn Region of Armenia block highway demanding to stop HPP construction

On March 19, hundreds of people in Armenia again blocked the highway Ashtarak-Aparan demanding to remove machinery from the territory of the planned construction of a new hydropower plant (HPP) on the water supply line "Aparan-Yerevan". Villagers were supported by Yerevan activists of the "Pre-Parliament".

Let us remind you that on March 6 residents of the villages of Ushi, Oganavan, Artashavan, Karbi, Saghmosavan, Erznka and Egvard, located in the Aragatsotn Region, also blocked the above highway with a demand to stop the above HPP construction.

On March 19, residents of the region held another protest and demanded an arrival of the Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan.

"Villagers live on the harvest grown in their gardens and orchards; they have no other earnings. How can they leave so many villages without water?" asked one of the protesters.

The participants of the action have stated that if their demand (removal of equipment and building materials from the territory of the water line) was not met, they will launch a march for Yerevan.

Author: Armine Martirosyan

Source: CK correspondent