YEREVAN, JANUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. Environmental, urban development and other important problems will be discussed at sittings of the National Council on Sustainable Development of Armenia, the Council Chairman, Prime Minister of the RA Tigran Sargsyan said at the January 23 sitting of the Council. He expressed confidence that as a result of such discussions the Council will be able to make correct and mutually acceptable decisions for implementation of the main principles of the National Sustainable Development Program. The Council discussed the ecological situation in Yerevan: its causes, consequences, improvement ways, as well as issues related to organization of garbage disposal in the capital city. The Chairwoman of Association for Sustainable Human Development NGO Karine Danielian and the Head of the Environmental Protection Department of Yerevan Mayor's Office Avet Martirosian gave reports on the ecological situation in Yerevan, in which they spoke about the current state of Yerevan's urban-industrial environment, its water basins and green zones, seismic risks, the impact of the environment on Yerevan polulation's health, possible scenarios of the ecological development of the city, and analyzed some other issues. A. Martirosian presented the measures envisaged by the Master Plan of Yerevan, noting that some of these measures have been partly implemented. The state of garbage disposal was presented by the Head of the Department of Municipal Economy of Mayor's Office Gagik Khachatrian. Summarizing the results of the discusson, T. Sargsyan said that despite the considerable work done, Yerevan still has a lot of serious problems that require solution. He shared the opinion of NGOs' representatives and NA deputies that the implemented work will not receive positive appraisal of the people until even one or several unacceptable, illogical and blameworthy phenomena exist. Announcing that the next sitting of the Council will be dedicated to environmental problems of Lake Sevan, the prime minister instructed those to give reports to present in advance the proposals on Lake Sevan's problems to the members of the Council in order to organize an efficient discussion.

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