Thursday, February 22 2018 20:05

ArmInfo. The construction works on the territory of a natural monument in the gorge of Garni, Kotayk region of Armenia, known as the "Symphony of Stones" or "Basalt organ", are suspended. Minister of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan told journalists during the briefing on February 22 after the meeting of the government. According to the Minister, since the receipt of the signal - since February 21, the inspection body has begun to take appropriate actions.

 

"At present, and until all the legal bases are clarified, all construction work on the monument's territory has been suspended," Minasyan said. The task is, as the head of the Ministry of Defense stressed, that the nature monument is also considered a specially protected territory. In this case, "Symphony of stones" or "Basalt organ" is a natural monument and is one of the specially protected areas. "Just a few months ago, its borders were defined and the technical documentation was approved," the minister said, at the moment, those responsible for the sphere are determining whether construction works are carried out inside or outside the "Symphony of Stones." However, even if the construction is carried out outside the territory of the monument, then it is conducted in the immediate vicinity of the river, which in turn means that sanitary protection requirements for waterways are distributed to the construction site. And, thirdly, the head of the Ministry of Defense explained, the authorized body has the right to conduct preventive and other measures aimed at suspending or eliminating activities that can cause damage to a protected natural area.

Artsvik Minasyan refrained from mentioning the name of the developer. He said that the land is privately owned. Today, the legitimacy of privatization of this land plot is also being studied.

At the same time, as the head of the department noted, the land is completely in the administrative borders of the community. The Ministry of Nature Protection of Armenia, a year ago, initiated the so-called "Symphony of Stones" or the "Basalt Agency" as a specially protected natural area, to hand over to the management of the Khosrovka Forest for the purpose of toughening the protection regime and implementing a grant program for restoring the protection of the terrain. To this day, the Ministry of Defense is awaiting the decision of the Community Elders Council.

 

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Nature Protection expects in the next few hours to receive more complete information on the legal foundations of construction. In any case, the Minister excluded the existence of such, if the construction is not carried out outside, but inside a specially protected area.

On the eve of the social network Facebook there were photos that caused public outcry. Users reported that the construction of the "Symphony of Stones" is underway. It was also noted that it is obvious in the photographs that got into the network that the work is being done directly under the rock itself.

In November 2016 at a briefing in the parliament, RA Minister of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan said that the Ministry together with the Natural Resources Fund of the Caucasus agreed to map the territory of a symmetrical natural monument in the gorge of Garni, known as the "Symphony of Stones" or "Basalt" body "in order to create a protected area here. According to him, special financing will be allocated for these purposes first to the regulator, and then to the community.