News in English     | 15.07.2019. 11:16 |

Activists raise voice against construction of hydro power plants on BiH rivers

FENA Hana Imamović

SARAJEVO, July 15 (FENA) - Coalition for the Protection of the Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday in Sarajevo pointed to the problem of a comprehensive plan for the construction of a mini-hydroelectric power plants on the country’s rivers with a basketball game between representatives of government and investors on the one hand and person who fight for protection of the rivers on the other.

This performance was organized under the campaign "Save the Blue Heart of Europe", which aims to fight for the protection of the Balkan rivers and is part of a series of activities to be held in the Balkan countries from 6 to 16 July to warn of the "tsunami" of hydro energy projects which will affect thousands of people.

As the organizers emphasized today, in BiH, 300 hydropower plants are planned to be built on 244 rivers, which means that there will be more central than the river, and about 3,000 of them are planned to be built in almost every river in the countries of the Balkans.

As the organizers emphasized, 300 hydropower plants are planned to be built on 244 rivers in BiH, which means that there will be more plants than there are rivers, and about 3,000 of them are planned to be built on almost every river in the countries of the Balkans.

If this idea were to be realized, a large number of citizens would lose their homes, arable land, drinking water, and irrigation water, as well as the nature that they preserved for generations.

Coordinator of the Coalition for the Protection of the Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Miloš Orlić underlined that the river protectors gathered to warn that it is a common goal and to point it out clearly that they do not want the hydropower plants on the Bosnian rivers.

“They irreparably destroy our nature and the rivers we grew up with, and they are actually part of our identity,” said Orlić, assessing as the positive the fact that no permits have been issued for the construction of hydropower plants on the Buna because it is one of the most beautiful Bosnian rivers.

However, they warn that the construction of two hydropower plants is planned on the Doljanka River, and on behalf of the association for the protection of Doljanka River from Jablanica, Džanan Šašić said that, in a few months, the mini hydropower plant should be put into operation, and this is a river where citizens used to swim, hang out and fish.

“All swimming areas have been destroyed because the pipeline runs through the Doljanka riverbed directly. In doing so, the opinion of the experts on the environmental impact was not taken into account at all,” stressed Šašić.

In the environmental impact study, it is stated that the works during the period of spawning are forbidden since Doljanka is the largest spawning area for the river trout (December, January, and February), but the works lasted too long and the fish is no longer there, while the riverbed has been destroyed in the length of one kilometer.

A member of the ecological campaign "Eko Akcija", Anes Podić explained that BiH has no benefits from such this type of construction of hydropower plants because BiH has enough electricity for its own needs and it even exports electricity.

“Small hydropower plants destroy the most beautiful areas of this country, destroy the future of local communities, and the only ones who benefit are individuals who reap all the financial gain,” Podić said.

One of the most terrible examples of how hydropower plants are built is the Sana River, where the power plant was built at the source itself, and this is a river that was once known to be the cleanest river in Europe, next to the Una River.

Rivers are our renewable sources of energy, but how could it be possible to restore a river like Ugar, for example, when practically, it is no longer there and there is nothing more to be done there or to rescue since life does not exist there anymore.

(FENA) S. R.

Vezane vijesti

BiH and Azerbaijan are strengthening cooperation in protection against natural and other disasters

The investor's request for preliminary water consent for construction of small HPPs on Buna rejected

WWF Adria: The decision to ban construction of small hydro-power plants is a historic victory

Promo

M:tel: Savršena kombinacija – Huawei telefon i pametni sat s popustom

M:tel: Stiglo nam je Proljeće!

Predstava 'Kako sam se nadala dobro se nisam udala' u BKC Sarajevo