The next meeting of the Working Group on Environmental Issues of the Inter-Administrative Center operating under the Coordination Headquarters regarding the centralized solution of issues in the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan was held.

APA informs that the meeting was attended by representatives of the relevant state institutions represented in the working group and members of the special delegations of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan for Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions.

The participants were informed about the monitoring carried out in the liberated regions for the purpose of assessing the ecological situation, and discussions were held.

At the meeting, the group members were also informed about the biomonitoring carried out for the prevention of transboundary pollution of Okchuchay, the restoration of the ecosystem, the determination of scientifically based measures for the improvement of water quality, and the preparation of relevant proposals.

In order to determine the level of pollution of Okchuchay water, serious changes in the color of the water and a strong smell were observed during the monitoring conducted last week.

The analysis of water samples taken from the monitoring point near the border of the river with Armenia revealed that the concentration of iron, manganese, molybdenum, ammonium and sulfates in the water has increased.

The analysis of the data transmitted from the new generation automatic hydrological stations installed in the transboundary rivers, including in Okchuchay in Shayifli village of Zangilan region, confirmed the increase in pollution.

Heavy metal pollution of Okchuchay is observed throughout the year.

During the last monitoring, the reason for the change in the color and smell of the river was the sharp increase in the amount of ammonium and sulfate ions in Okchuchay.

Thus, in Okchuchay, the amount of ammonium was 4-5 times higher than the norm, and the amount of sulfate was several times higher than the norm.

This is due to the wide use of these chemicals in the mining industry.

As a result of the continuous pollution of Okchuchay from the Western Zangezur territory, appeals were made to international organizations to inform about the ecological crisis and critical condition of the river and its ecosystem and to prevent pollution.

Also, despite appeals and calls addressed to the German "Cronimet" Holding company, which is a shareholder of the "Qajaran copper molybdenum" combine in Armenia, as one of the main sources of pollution of Okchuchay, no practical measures have been taken and the pollution of the river continues today.

Taking into account the seriousness of the issue, the evidentiary documents collected on the basis of regular environmental monitoring were submitted to the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan for a legal evaluation and taking appropriate measures.

It should be noted that the Working Group carries out its activities in the format of close communication and information exchange with other working groups and special representations of the Interdepartmental Center.