Tuesday, August 8 2017 17:33

ArmInfo. Due to the anomalous hot weather, drought is observed in places in Armenia. This was announced on August 8 at a press conference by the chairman of the NGO "Agrarian and Villager Association" Hrach Berberyan.

According to him, from the drought and heat the farmers of Armenia had to increase watering. The same area of irrigated land today requires double watering, because of the high temperature the water evaporates quickly. An extremely difficult situation has developed in the Shirak region, in Tavush and in many other regions of the country. In the fields the future harvest began to dry up, stressed Berberyan.

According to the head of the NGO, it is doubtful that there is not enough water in the reservoirs of the republic. In this regard, the NGO appealed to the president of the republic to set up a working group to find out the reasons for the deplorable state of the reservoirs and the lack of water in them. "Enough of telling us tales," the expert called, demanding that the authorities find out the reasons for the situation that continues to develop over the past five years. "This issue requires serious study, because, despite the huge financial resources spent from the World Bank's resources, the German loan, the situation does not change for the better," Berberyan said.

To remind, on June 23 the Government of Armenia approved legislative amendments providing, in connection with weather conditions, an increase in the amount of water intake from Lake Sevan by 100 million cubic meters, that is, up to 270 million cubic meters. The reason is, as the rationale was said, that the maximum occupancy of water bodies, compared to 2016, is less by 120 million cubic meters. As the chairman of the State Committee for Water Economy of the Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia Arsen Harutyunyan stated, presenting the government's draft, the program should improve the situation with irrigation of land. Harutyunyan explained that according to the Hydrometeorological Service in comparison with 2016 in 2017, 20% less water was recorded in the rivers. As of June 20, water is less in reservoirs (compared to 2016, it is 189 million cubic meters).