Residents of Artchis have again blocked a stretch of the Bagratashen-Vanadzor highway to protest the lack of drinking water in their community of 1,100 in Armenia’s northern Tavush Province.

Irate residents first blocked the highway on July 1.

At the time, Artchis Mayor Davit Veranyan told Hetq that the village has lacked a steady water supply since the collapse of the Soviet Union thirty years ago when the two local springs dried up.

Veranyan said that while a pipe supplying neighboring villages runs through Artchis, his village lacks a pumping station and network of pipes to tap into the water.

Artchis resident Arpineh Mikichyan told Hetq that they are demanding that the matter be taken up at the government’s next cabinet session.

Photo: Arpineh Mikichyan's Facebook page