River cleaning procedure to be simplified in Armenia 

ArmInfo.  The procedure for cleaning riverbeds in Armenia will be simplified. At the session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on May 7, amendments to the Water Code of the Republic of Armenia are being discussed in the second and final reading.

Deputy Minister of Environment of the Republic of Armenia Tigran  Gabrielyan, who presented the document, noted that the draft law was  developed taking into account the consequences of the river floods in  May 2024 in the settlements of Tavush and Lori regions, which were  subsequently recognized as disaster zones.

After that, there was a need to clean the rivers from household  waste. Currently, the procedure for cleaning riverbeds and drains  from household waste that impedes the natural flow of water is being  discussed.  However, this process is associated with certain  restrictions caused by the availability of the necessary permits. The  document proposes to exclude the requirement to submit a water use  permit to the authorized body. The draft law is intended to empower  the RA government to develop a regulatory act to establish the  procedure for cleaning the bed of water bodies from household waste,  as well as to clarify a number of other norms.

Earlier, the RA Minister of Environment Hakob Simidyan noted that the  draft law is aimed at the proper management of risky sections of  rivers. "The proposed changes are mainly technical in nature; they  are being introduced so that in the event of cleaning any river,  there are no additional difficulties for either the community or any  other state body," the minister emphasized.