The multi-year environmental problem of floating waste in the Drina river near Višegrad has again come into the focus of the international media after the Associated Press published a photo gallery of workers removing huge amounts of garbage from the river.
Along with the photos, AP stated that workers with a crane remove large amounts of floating waste that seasonal rains bring into the water, where it accumulates behind the dam of the hydroelectric power plant, creating large floating waste islands.
Garbage that is collected seasonally at the dam of the hydroelectric power plant and represents a long-standing ecological problem of the river basin that passes through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro. Environmental activists have been warning for years that the situation repeats itself every winter and spring. Dejan Furtula from the Višegrad Eco Center said yesterday for the FENA agency that the measures taken so far “did not lead to a permanent solution” and that the problem indicates a complete lack of political will and responsibility at all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Previous reports showed that large amounts of plastic, tires, metal and other waste have been recorded in the Drina and its accompanying lakes in recent years, coming from numerous illegal landfills throughout the basin, including tributaries from Serbia and Montenegro.
Environmentalists and local associations also remind that the aggravating circumstance lies in the fact that this problem is not only local – waste in the Drina comes from several countries, which requires cross-border cooperation and systemic solutions that have not been established to date.
In addition to the obvious aesthetic and touristic problem, experts warn that accumulated waste can affect people’s health and the environment if it is not solved permanently and systematically.
The renewed attention of the international media, through the publication of photos and descriptions by AP, puts the Drina – a river known for its natural beauty and importance for the region – at the center of environmental issues that have lasted for more than a decade, writes N1 BiH.
