SOUTH CAUCASIAN COUNTRIES ENCOUNTER SAME
PROBLEMS RELATED TO MAN-CAUSED RIVER POLLUTION

YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Rafael Hovhannisian, Chairman of
the Union of Armenian Ecologists NGO, subscribes to the opinion of
Azerbaijani ecologists that the pollution level is high in the Armenian
part of the rivers flowing from Armenia to Azerbaijan. According
to him, in particular, the Arax River is equally polluted in the
territory of Armenia and Azerbaijan. He explained the high degree
of the river’s pollution in Armenia by the fact that Arax’s valley
is densely populated, while measures aimed at isolating the dumps,
solid waste and waste waters have not been taken. At the same
time, he noted that the Arax River’s pollution in Armenia has not
increased since the Soviet time. In the words of Volodya Narimanian,
deputy head of the the Water Resource Management Agency of the RA
Ministry of Nature Protection, the degree of man-caused pollution,
especially with municipal and household waste waters, is high in
Azerbaijan and Georgia as well. The main reason is that the waste
waters of settlements in these countries are not cleaned due to lack
of financial resources. V. Narimanian said that the level of natural
background pollution is high in Arax and many other rivers of Armenia,
particularly with copper and molybdenum combinations, since these
rivers are rapidly flowing ones and their beds pass through rocks with
a high content of these metals. In his opinion, Azerbaijani ecologists’
claims that the rivers flowing from Armenia are very polluted have no
grounds, especially as these rivers are rapidly flowing, thanks to
which they have a greater capacity of self-cleaning from biological
pollutants. Besides, Armenia has repeatedly proposed that the
situation related to the regional rivers’ pollution be assessed with
joint efforts of the South Caucasian countries, waste water treatment
capacities be launched with the assistance of donor organizations,
and only after that one of the three South Caucasian countries should
raise the problems related to additional pollution of these rivers.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress