March with respirators to protest hazardous  air quality situation in  Yerevan

ArmInfo.A march wearing respirators will be held in Yerevan on November 30th to protest against air pollution in the country and the inadequate response from authorities.  Kristine Vardanyan, a member of the Yerevan City Council of Elders and an associate professor in the Department of  Hygiene and Ecology at Yerevan State Medical University, shared this information on her Facebook page.

The march will start at 2:00 PM at Republic Square, with participants  will march in a line wearing respirators along Northern Avenue,  passing by the Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet  Theater, and continuing along Mesrop Mashtots Avenue to Yerevan City  Hall. The marchers want to draw the attention of the public and  officials to the environmental situation in the country.

 It should be noted that, amid public outrage over air pollution in  the country, Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan previously assured that air  quality issues in Yerevan, as well as in the Ararat, Armavir, and  Aragatsotn provinces and the Ararat Valley districts near the  capital, are strictly seasonal and due to geographical factors.  Avinyan promised to  present measures to be taken in response to the  current situation.

Meanwhile,  environmental experts attribute the high levels of air  pollution in the country to non- compliance with environmental  standards during large-scale construction in the capital,  tree  felling of lby the mayor's office, and the rise in  vehicle numbers  leading to increased exhaust emissions.