WASTES DUMPED IN THE DEBED RIVER PREVENTING RESTORATION OF TCHOTCHKAN ORCHARDS

Larisa Paremuzyan

14:13, April 17, 2015

Tchotchkan, a village of 2,000 souls in Armenia’s northern Lori
Province, once boasted 900 hectares of peach and grape orchards.

Today, according to village agronomist Sergey Cherchinyan, only 40
hectares remain.

Tchotchkan residents Hengel Siradeghyan and Yurik Galstyan believe
that the orchards must be restored if villagers are to live relatively
normal lives.

75 year-old Siradeghyan became involved in gardening after Armenia
regained its independence in the early 1990s and has established an
orchard measuring 1.3 hectares.

Mr. Siradeghyan has four sons, of which three have permanently left
for Russia. The youngest goes and comes for work. Thus, the pensioner
must take care of the orchard by himself.

When he first planted fruit trees, neighbors thought he was a bit
crazy. Now, he says, people come to him to buy trees to start their
own orchards.

Last year, the irrigation water problem in Tchotchkan was resolved
and the two men thank Mayor Argady Tamazyan for the effort.

“They provide water but look at this tree here. It’s pretty weak. I’ve
pruned the dried out bits. It’s because we use water from the Debed
River in which waste has been dumped by the Akhtala mining company
to irrigate the orchards,” said Mr. Siradeghyan. “The water, when it
comes, resembles a milky soup. It’s fairly thick. We have to use it.”

Mr. Galstyan also complains that his fruity trees are also drying up
from using water from the Debed River.

Mr. Siradeghyan points to 8-10 stunted trees as we walk through his
orchard. He claims it’s due to the Debed River water.

“It’s not only our villagers who consume the fruit. It’s sold in the
markets in Alaverdi and Vanadzor. Who knows if we are selling poisoned
fruit or not?” he noted.

Mr. Siradeghyan says he doesn’t even use nitrates as fertilize because
the trees get enough harmful material from the river water alone. He
says his trees, which he only irrigates once or twice, give better
fruit than his neighbor who irrigates four or five times.

He says last year’s crop amounted to 2-3 tons of fruit and that he
couldn’t sell it all. He went to the village of Tzater and bartered
it for wheat, potatoes, oil and cheese.

“I can’t sell 800 kilograms of peaches per day in Alaverdi. Thus,
I barter what I don’t sell for items to stock up for the winter,” Mr.

Siradeghyan said.

The two men are upbeat about the future. They say that the old orchards
are being restore and that the only impediment are the toxic wastes
being dumped in the Debed River by the Akhtala mining company.

From: A. Papazian