Epress.am News from Armenia
At the April 29 meeting of the National Assembly, the Armenian government proposed making the following amendment to the bill to increase by 40% annually the water drained from Lake Sevan: replace the 5-year term with a one-year term.
After this amendment, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) also voted in favor of the proposal. BHK MP Naira Zohrabyan said several villagers appealed to them, complaining about the lack of irrigation water.
The bill was passed with 96 voting in favor, 15 against, and 4 abstentions.
Recall, there was a heated debate on this bill both inside and outside the parliament building. Outside, an initiative called SOS Sevan urged MPs to vote against the bill, in order not to endanger the lake. While inside the building, opposition MPs in their speeches noted that water is drained from Lake Sevan is to maintain certain individuals' fish farming businesses and not to provide water to villagers.