No Water in Water Reservoir: Residents of Arteni Community Block Yerevan-Gyumri Highway

Residents of the Arteni community are currently blocking the Yerevan-Gyumri highway. For several days, they have been informed that there will be interruptions in irrigation water supply in the community.

“We were told that the water supply would be cut off starting from the 16th, but the majority of the village has not yet been able to water their gardens or fields,” said Garik Martirosyan, a resident of Arteni. He added that the reason for this delay is due to a scheduling issue.

According to the resident, a few people in the community have managed to water their land, as there has been no interruption in the supply based on the schedule. “We were told that the water would be turned off after the 16th because there is not enough supply in the reservoir,” he noted.

Auroranews reached out to the director of the territorial water users' association, who stated that they are aware of the conflict of interests, but there is very little water in the reservoir, which is why it has been decided to turn off the supply now.

When we asked if there was an alternative solution to prevent damage to the residents' annual work, the director answered, “No.”

“It is better for a few people not to get water at this time, so that everyone can be watered in August. I'm telling you again, there is no water. Right now, one person has sown barley, and another has trees in their garden. Should we give water to one?” he remarked.

The attached photo shows Garik Martirosyan's garden, already dried up and with expected crop damage.