Wednesday, April 8 2020 14:56

ArmInfo.The declaration of a state of emergency in connection with COVID-19 "cleared" the Yerevan's air.

Inga Zarafyan, head of the EcoLur NGO, said in an interview with  ArmInfo that according to official figures, from March 22 to March  31, compared to the beginning of the month, the dust concentration in  the capital decreased by about 42%, and compared to February - by  31%. The expert associates the improvement of the ecological  situation in Yerevan with the restriction of automobile traffic. In  this case, we are talking mainly about vehicles running on diesel  fuel, since it is they emitted a significant share of emissions of  pollutants.

The introduction of emergency also affected the economic activities  of a number of business entities. It would seem that this could also  make some adjustments to improve the environmental situation in the  country, however, as Zarafyan noted, given the fact that mainly the  restrictions affected the service sector, it is difficult to make any  assessments. It is not the first year that environmentalists have  been trying to draw attention to the environmental risks of the  mining industry, however, according to Zarafyan, these enterprises,  as an exception, continue to work in emergency situations. She  recalled that their activities have been repeatedly criticized, given  their negative environmental impact and the lack of appropriate  mechanisms to hold accountable for violations. <These mechanisms  should be developed by authorized bodies, but we do not see any  progress. We regularly receive signals regarding the activities of  mining enterprises, the environmental inspection records them, but no  further steps are taken>, Zarafyan noted.