Creation of infrastructure in villages of Nagorno-Karabakh would save them from collapse, local residents believe (+video)

The villages of Blutan and Tsakhkavank in the Gadrut District of Nagorno-Karabakh are on the verge of collapse. This was reported by residents of the Blutan community. According to the locals, the situation can be improved by development of road, establishment of transport connection and restoration of the school.

During the Karabakh War in the early 1990s, residents of both villages were forced to flee their homes. In 1994, after the villages were liberated, some families returned to the villages and saw their houses destroyed and burned.

Prior to the Karabakh War, almost 80 families lived in the village of Blutan. At present, only 13 families, consisting of elderly people, live here.

More than 20 families lived in the village of the Tsakhkavank prior to the Karabakh War. At present, only one family, consisting of pensioners Vladimir and Raya Sarkisyan, and farmer Sarkis Sargsyan, who has a small animal farm, live in the village.

"The first years after the war, when several families returned to the village, the state helped to renovate the houses and built some new ones. However, later, for some reasons unknown to us, those works were stopped. Young people began to leave the village because of lack of job places. And when the primary school was closed several years ago, all the young families left the village," 78-year-old Greta Melkumyan has said.

She believes that "if the government of Nagorno-Karabakh at least improves the road to Bulutan, establishes transport connection and opens the school, then some families will want to return to the village."