Karineh Danielyan, a member of the Yerevan Municipality’s Urban Construction Advisory Council’s Environmental Committee, lamented the fact that proposals submitted by environmental activists have been lost, collecting dust somewhere in the archives of the mayor’s office.

“Every mayor blames his predecessor for the environmental ills facing Yerevan. We have consistently submitted a host of suggestions that could serve to ameliorate the situation but they remain on the shelves in the bowels of the municipality collecting dust. Now we have changed our tactics and have met in person with Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan and presented our proposals. He agreed to them all and promised to solve all problems possible,” Danielyan said at a press conference today.

She said that Mayor Margaryan promised to review the work permits of fifteen construction sites within Yerevan’s “Green Ring”.

Another concern raised by environmentalists is the seismic safety of Yerevan.

According to geologist Rouben Haytoyan, Armenia lacks a science lab and a unit of professionals that can study the ground beneath Yerevan and calculate where high-rise buildings are safe to construct.

Haytoyan said there are many building in Yerevan whose foundations are unstable or totally lacking.