Residents of the village of Lichk, district of Meghri, have been using the water flowing through asbestos pipes for decades. Villagers complain that the whole world gave up on asbestos a long time ago, whereas they, not having an alternative, drink water flowing into the village through an asbestos pipeline.
26 people in the village have died from cancer in the past few years, which makes the locals think that the reason is the asbestos water supply system of the village.
Ms. Vaghush has been living in the village for 30 years. She says that they have always used that water and many of the villagers have health problems. “The water is very bad. Not only do they use water from asbestos pipes, it is also river water, which we use in cooking, as well as bathing and washing, we don’t have any other water. Even washing machines have broken down, human diseases and cases of death also raise serious doubts that asbestos has been the reason for death,” the resident of the village says.
Hovhannes Mirzoyan, the headman of the village of Lichk, has always considered the issue of changing the fresh water supply system as the most important in the village and has raised that issue on every occasion. “The water reaches the village through a 2.5km asbestos pipeline. Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine has given 10 million AMD to get metal plastic pipes for constructing a new water supply system. A part of it has been bought already, the money is not enough to buy the rest of pipes. We work on that, once we get the necessary sum of 5 million AMD, we will change the water supply system with the help of the villagers. The village has also other problems, but the priority was this, there have been 26 lethal cases in the village, which raises many concerns and we link it to the asbestos water supply system. We use the water of the river, since springs are quite far from the village and the water of those springs would not meet the needs of the village and the military station, besides, more people come to village in the summer,” the headman of the village of Lichk remarks.
After solving this problem in Lichk, the next urgent problem of this high-altitude village is the issue of roads, which is the second on the agenda after changing the water supply system.
Meri SOGHOMONYAN
