By Alexander Pracht and Christopher Crowson
Yerevan’s air quality has seen a marked improvement this season, Mayor Tigran Avinyan announced during a city council meeting on Monday. Citing data from 173 monitoring devices installed throughout the city, he noted that such comprehensive air quality assessments were not conducted prior to last year. However, with new policies now in place, the municipality is better equipped to diagnose pollution issues.
Deputy head of the city’s environmental department Gorik Avetisyan said winter pollution spikes are mainly caused by people heating their homes using natural gas, diesel, and solid fuels, leading to increased levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
Poor air circulation in winter months further contributes to the problem, as the city’s complex terrain and weak winds prevent dirty air from being cleared out, resulting in the typical winter smog. Additionally, the lack of regulation on vehicle emissions worsens air quality.
To discuss this issue which has plagued Yerevan for years, the initiative Yerevan for People organized the Yerevan Air Public Talk last month. Physicians, environmental activists and representatives from City Hall gave presentations, while an audience composed of concerned citizens were free to ask questions and propose solutions to the air quality crisis.
The physicians who spoke at the talk noted how increased levels of PM2.5 in Yerevan’s air was a cause of lung cancer and other oncological diseases among the Armenian capital’s inhabitants. Oncologist Levon Badalyan recounted that he had witnessed many cases in which non-smokers had developed lung cancer as a result of the city’s air pollution.
However, Avetisyan, who also attended the event, suggested that air pollution figures may be overstated, as many sensors are installed on construction sites at the epicenter of pollution zones. He downplayed the severity of the situation, calling some sensors “unprofessional” and prone to errors. Avetisyan also claimed that the highest air pollution levels were recorded in 2016, not in the past year.
According to the official, the city’s strategy to improve air quality includes stricter regulations for auto repair shops, a requirement for construction sites to use special equipment to reduce dust emissions, and heavier fines for non-compliant construction site managers. Additionally, the plan aims to increase the number of green spaces and bodies of water in the city.
However, in the following week, Yerevan City Hall’s official contractor Kanachpatum removed around 50 mature trees from central Yerevan’s Tumanyan and Melik-Adamyan streets. This is part of City Hall’s program to remove all of the city’s maple, elm and ash trees and replace them with more “decorative” tree varieties.
Kira Balayan, cofounder of the environmental initiative Kanach Yerevan, noted that cutting down the trees does absolutely no good to the city’s environment, which is already in poor condition. Fewer mature trees mean less shade for people to protect themselves from the summer heat, increased levels of air pollution and thus a higher risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
On March 25, the civil group Yerevan for the People held a demonstration outside City Hall to protest the authorities’ management of the city’s green spaces. Around 100 people attended, but unlike a similar protest last year, this one did not prompt Mayor Tigran Avinyan to leave his office and address the crowd.
The post Yerevan sees improved air quality this season, mayor says appeared first on CIVILNET.
