Yerevan faces seasonal air pollution spike; activists hold anti-smog rally

By Alexander Pracht

Yerevan continues to experience dangerous levels of air pollution that threaten residents’ health, with minors, the elderly, and people with respiratory illnesses particularly at risk. The capital’s air quality is chronically poor due to its bowl-like terrain, which traps pollutants, but conditions typically worsen in November when households begin heating their homes.

As of Monday, most air quality monitors across Yerevan are now showing ‘dangerous’ or ‘very dangerous’ levels. The capital’s location in a basin surrounded by hills prevents strong winds from dispersing pollutants, meaning air quality is rarely good even in normal conditions.

On top of that, the onset of winter brings a significant spike in emissions as many residents in low-rise neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs rely on cheaper, more polluting fuels such as wood or low-grade combustibles instead of electricity or natural gas, which do not produce hazardous emissions.

Other persistent sources of pollution include insufficient regulation of vehicle emissions and weak enforcement of dust-control rules at construction sites. A major contributor is the Nubarashen landfill on the city’s southeastern edge: lacking proper waste management infrastructure, it receives most of Yerevan’s garbage, and frequent fires there release toxic smoke year-round.

Speaking at a municipality session on Monday, Mayor Tigran Avinyan said that new regulation concerning dust-suppression equipment for construction sites has not yet been implemented but will be approved in December, and developers will be notified of the new requirements.

Demanding urgent action from municipal authorities, a group of activists held a rally in central Yerevan on Sunday. Dozens marched through the streets and then gathered outside City Hall, many wearing face masks or even gas masks to illustrate the severity of the situation.

“We need accountability from our elected officials. Obviously, we want them to do more, but I think a greater issue is that there hasn’t been enough demand for such accountability. People that I speak to don’t even seem to think that there is a problem,” Amaras Zargarian, a participant in the rally, told CivilNet.

Health experts advise residents to remain indoors unless absolutely necessary, use face masks outdoors, keep windows closed, and run air purifiers at home or in the workplace when possible.