Residents of Artchis, a vilage in Armenia’s northern Tavoush Province blocked a stretch of the Bagratashen-Vanadzor highway to protest the lack of potable water in their community.

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 says 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.

“We first need a pumping station and then two kilometers of pipe to get the water to homes,” Veranyan said.

After several hours, residents opened the roadway to traffic and are waiting to meet with officials from the provincial government.

Photo: Sousanna Martirosyan's Facebook page