Yerevan in "snow trap" today
The snow that fell on January 31 has already caused traffic jams on all streets in Armenia, including the streets in Yerevan.
Despite the Yerevan Municipality's assurances that the capital is fully ready for the snow, has sufficient equipment and the necessary materials for cleaning the streets and sidewalks and ensuring citizens' free and safe transportation, what was going on this morning was not consoling.
This morning, citizens rushing to work had to stay in minibuses and buses for 30-45 minutes due to traffic jams at intersections.
Last evening, the municipality organized an exhibit of snow-ploughing equipment at the France Square in central Yerevan. The square was cleaned and the equipment was placed on both sides of the square. Photos were taken and the news was disseminated through the news service of Yerevan Municipality.
However, the heavy snow at Freedom Square, which is located next to France Square, froze the roads, melted and created an impassable swamp for citizens.
Even though winter in Yerevan, as a rule, is dry and it only snows for a week, these last couple of days have made citizens panic and have shown that the municipality didn't fulfill its promises.
Even road cleaning creates additional problems for citizens. The sections of roads that were cleaned had created "barricades" of snow dividing the streets and sidewalks and had made it difficult to cross the street or even approach the bus stops. Most importantly, the lines for passageways were under a layer of snow at the passable sections of the streets.
