HYDRO-ELECTRIC STATIONS ARE DANGEROUS
ek
06:09 pm | September 03, 2009 | society
Small hydro-electric stations are harming the water and thermal regimes
of the rivers and creating obstacles for fish reproduction. The
construction of the stations causes ecological problems, say
participants of the round-table discussion held today at the Orhus
center in Yerevan.
According to Head of the Environmental Protection Department of the RA
Ministry of Nature Protection Aram Gabrielyan, the small rivers may
become a source of energy, but preference must be given to drinking
and irrigation water, fishing and then energy production.
There are 60 hydro-electric stations in Armenia, but there are
prospects for broadening the business.
Ecologists are also concerned that the stations are not built
correctly. As head of the Armenia branch of the World Wilderness Fund
Karen Manvelyan told "A1+", the stations are built disproportionately
and the water is used without considering what it’s used for.
According to Karen Manvelyan, there are two important things-interests
of the local population and nature. "The susceptibility of the
ecosystem is not taken into account. The trees nearby are eliminated
and the population’s interets are not taken into account either. People
have their lands, cultivate them, receive profits, but all that is
eliminated with the construction of the hydro-electric stations."
When Head of the Division of Restoring Energy of the Department of
Development at the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Daniel
Stepanyan tried to justify that the stations are put into action after
they are examined, Karen Manvelyan opposed: "Nobody can exclude that
they are examined, but for some reason, regardless of the issues,
they are still passed," said Karen Manvelyan in closing.