Ministry of Emergency Situations
of the Republic of Armenia

On August 28, a Command Post training exercise was held in Ararat marz on the topic “The organization and implementation of measures for protection of the population in case of Azat reservoir dam collapse”.

On the river Azat, that runs through the province, was built Azat reservoir and has been operated since 1976. In case of the reservoir dam collapse 33 villages of the province will be covered with water.

The exercise was conducted in three phases, which was attended by the representatives of various regional departments, as well as by leadership of Kanachut, Arevshata and Getazat communities.

The goals of the exercise were:

• improve the skills of the leadership in protection of the population of the marz in case of emergency threats and organization of protection activities of the population,

• check up the reality of the plan used in protection of population in case of “Azat reservoir dam collapse”,

• improve the practical skills of the regional response forces in the activities directed to the implementation of search and rescue operations in water-covered areas,

• improve the skills of decision-making committees in case of emergency and evacuation.