Construction equipment is reportedly on the way to the Trchkan Waterfall, sometimes called the Armenian Niagara, located some 33 kilometres from Gyumri on the border of the Shirak and Lori regions.

The government wants to build a hydro-electric power station at the site.

Trchkan is the second highest waterfall in Armenia and has been officially listed as a hydrological natural monument since 2008.

Levon Galstyan, a member of the “Let’s Preserve Trchkan Waterfall” group says that the plant may have a negative impact on the waterfall but that the Ministry of Nature Protection’s impact assessment findings raise no such concerns.

Environmentalists in Armenia have petitioned the government to review its findings.