Everything is colder and consequently more polluted. Even the right mask is not easy to buy. There are projects that would reduce the horror that we breathe, but the realization is not even in sight.
As many as 7,300 deaths in Bosnia and Herzegovina are linked to air pollution, according to the latest data. 3 years ago, this number was 3300. Then we were the fifth and now the second country in the world with the highest death rate from human-caused air pollution, the leading causes being the use of coal and biomass. Sarajevo is synonymous with pollution during the winter months.
What do the citizens say?
- Terrible, terrible, this is unbearable, it will be even worse, I don’t know where the end of everything is, unplanned construction, there is no order, system, nothing, we literally live in Absurdistan.
- I pack my suitcase and leave, so what am I going to do?
- I’m old enough, when the air is so impure, I follow, then I don’t go out.
The authorities, on the other hand, note that in recent years they have invested hundreds of millions of marks in order to improve the situation. They cannot correct the geographical position, but they emphasize that they have invested a lot in the traffic infrastructure, in order to reduce the number of vehicles, of which there are around 200 thousand in KS every day.
“We bought 25 new trolleybuses and ordered another 10 new ones, also 15 trams are already here, another 10 have been ordered. 9 minibuses have been bought, 18 new ones are being bought that will be low-emission vehicles in KS that will reduce pollution, some will be the first electric vehicles in public transport in BiH”, said the Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton, Nihad Uk.
This year, about half a million marks were allocated for monitoring. Among other things, subsidies are offered for switching to gas, installation of a calorimeter, subsidies for taxis and switching to electric, warming of 40 public buildings, replacement of individual combustion chambers. A new project of district heating through heat pumps worth around 50 million euros is also hinted at.
“That project will drastically improve air quality, reduce gas consumption by about 50% in KS, and at the same time I introduced the novelty of replacing gas boilers with new gas turbines, which will reduce by another 30%,” explains Mladen Pandurević, minister of communal economy of KS.
There remains hope that we will finally go ahead with this project. However, the previous announcements and the pace of replacement of the combustion chamber are a long way off, says activist Anes Podić. He adds that there are many examples of those who solved such problems faster.
“Cities introduced total bans on the use of solid fuels and gave very short deadlines, helping the population abundantly. Krakow managed to eliminate solid fuels in 3 years, in Great Britain the problem was solved in a similar way, in Sarajevo 50 years ago in only 7 years over half of the population was directly or indirectly heated with natural gas, and now we have 5 years for 4 thousand households to switch from solid fuel to something else”, warns activist Anes Podić (Eco-action).
Which, he adds, is hard to expect. Based on past practice, there is not much reason for optimism. The gloomy, winter mornings are getting closer and completely certain. And when we will breathe at full speed, it is uncertain, he writes N1 BiH.
