Police to disperse Namakhvani HPP campers after man drowns in Rioni River
Claiming that the construction of the HPP poses threat to environment, locals and activists have set up tents close the construction site. Photo: Tata Kachkachishvili/RFERL
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The Georgian Interior Ministry has announced that the tents of activists protesting the construction of the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) in the western Georgian region of Imereti will be removed after a man drowned in Rioni River yesterday.
The ministry justified the move by noting that increased rainfall in the coming days may cause flooding in the area where protesters have pitched tents.
Rescuers are trying to find the body of a 30-year-old man who went into the Rioni River on April 10.
It happened so unexpected. Two men were standing near the river when one of them gave his phone to another, jumped into the river and swam”, one of the protesters, Marita Museliani, told the Georgian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL).
She said that police was also watching how several people asked the man to come out of the water, but in vain.
He was swimming and the water took him away”, she said explaining that the man and his friend had joined the protesters a couple of days before the incident.
RFERL notes in its report that it is not clear how the two friends managed to get into the Namakhvani village where the movement has been restricted since April 3.
The interior ministry has stated today that it has decided to remove the tents ‘from the dangerous zone’ and evacuate the citizens ‘to a safe place’ to avoid the further threat and ensure the safety of the protesters.
However, activists protesting the construction of Namakhvani HPP claim that the reason behind the decision to remove their tents is ‘artificial’.
Two protesters have been detained during a clash with police over the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) in the western Georgian region of Imereti.
The construction of the main facilities of the Namakhvani HPP in western Georgia, in particular the dam and the reservoir, will be suspended until major studies are re-verified and validated, while construction of the auxiliary infrastructure will continue, announces Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava.
Locals, activists and politicians gathered in the western Georgian town of Kutaisi to protest the construction of the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) in the Imereti region.
The Namakhvani hydroelectric power plant (HPP) being built in the Tskaltubo municipality will provide Georgia with 12% of its electric energy needs once completed, Economy Minister Natia Turnava said earlier today while visiting the site.
Locals who have been protesting the construction of Namakhvani HPP for 168 days by Turkish company ENKA are now holding a rally in the village of Gumati, Imereti region after police dismantled their tents in the village of Namakhvani yesterday ‘due to possible threats of flooding.’
Georgian law enforcers have erected an iron wall in the Rioni River Gorge in western Georgia, in the village of Gumati earlier today to hamper the movement of demonstrators to the village of Namakhvani. Locals have been protesting the construction of Namakhvani HPP by the Turkish company ENKA for 170 days on.
Crowds protesting the construction of Namakhvani HPP in the Rioni Gorge have moved from the village of Gumati to Kutaisi city earlier today, where they are holding a rally now.
Georgian law enforcers have detained wrestler brothers Piruz and Rezo Tsulukidze from the country’s western Adjara region and four others from the same region earlier today for group violence during a rally in the village of Gumati against Namakhvani HPP on April 12.
The government of Georgia has announced that the construction of the Namakhvani hydro power plant (HPP) in the Imereti region will be suspended for 9 to 12 months until the environmental, geological and seismological surveys are reviewed and confirmed.
Police have dismantled iron barricades erected during protests against the Namakhvani HPP in the Rioni Gorge in western Georgia, in the village of Gumati.