YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS. A new village will be built in Armenia’s Shirak province. The cause is the construction of the Kaps Reservoir, as a part of Jradzor village will appear under water after the construction of the reservoir. Therefore, the village, that will be built for the resettlement of the village residents, will be ready in spring 2026, and the residents will be provided with houses as a compensation. The government will provide renovated modular houses, they will be earthquake-resistant, energy-saving. The village will have a pedestrian path and a cattle road.

Recently Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan talked about the construction of this new village at the Cabinet meeting.

Ashot Khachatryan, director of water economy program implementation branch at the Armenian Territorial Development Fund (ATDF), which implements the village resettlement program, presented details about the initiative in an interview to ARMENPRESS.

“As a result of the construction of the Kaps Reservoir, a part of the village of Jradzor will appear under water, therefore, a decision was made to move the whole village to another place, that is about 5km away from the village, near the reservoir”, he said.

The works on transferring the village have started since December 2021. At the moment the designing works of the new village are underway. The initial master plan of the new village is already ready, and the main designing works will launch after its examination. The designing works will last for 18 months, and the construction of the village will last for another 2 years.

“We expect we will end the designing works in July 2023. And the construction tender will last for a few more months, and the construction will begin at the end of 2023. There are winter pauses during construction, so we believe that the village will be ready in spring 2026”, Ashot Khachatryan said.

During public hearings different territories were presented to the village residents and they approved that territory. Khachatryan said the village residents wanted to move to a new village and they all denied the offer of getting financial compensation.

He stated that the new village will be bigger in size than the current one. “According to the project, the compensation will be a house for a house, in other words, all those people who have houses in that village, will get houses in the new village. At the moment, 74 families are registered in the village, but only 39 actually live in the village. All these 74 families will be provided with houses”, he said, adding that the village residents will be provided with renovated modular houses.

The new village will have a road to the old village because the cemeteries in the old village will not appear under water, they will be preserved and people will have a chance to visit cemeteries.

Khachatryan said that the new village will have a residential zone, a rest zone, a production zone, a teaching zone, as well as its clear road network, a separate road for cattle, and pedestrian paths.

The village will be have water supply, drainage and a biological sewage treatment plant.

It is also planned to create a production zone where there will be a milk procurement plant.

The new village will have a view to the reservoir. According to Ashot Khachatryan, there is a very good opportunity to develop agrotourism and tourism there.

“The construction of the Kaps Reservoir started back in 1985 [later it stopped]. And the village residents have been waiting for the reconstruction of the reservoir, for the construction of a new village so that they can move. And this situation is reaching its end, and the residents are very excited for these works to end soon”, he said.

He said that the village residents will also be provided with compensation for the lost corps. If there will be other territories than houses, compensation will also be provided.

Asked whether other people can also move to live in the new village, he said that the project also envisages expansion of the village. “Everyone can use it, buy a land in the village and build”, he said.

The village resettlement program is implemented with the state budget funds. 4 billion 950 million drams will be spent on the project.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan