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Guests to the in any other case picturesque historic city of Visegrad in japanese Bosnia are first greeted by the sight of an enormous floating waste dump caught within the deep turquoise waters of the Drina river canyon.
The tons of floating rubbish, largely plastic bottles, are a menace to the native tourism-based financial system and there are additionally fears in regards to the impression on individuals’s well being when it’s finally burnt.
The Drina winds its approach by means of Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia, the place the Visegrad hydro-power plant constructed a makeshift barrier out of previous oil drums within the depths of the canyon some 20 years in the past, defending its dam from the particles carried by the river.
“There are about 5,000 cubic metres of various sorts of waste,” mentioned Eko Heart Visegrad’s Dejan Furtula, pointing to the trash barrier. “It comes from all sides and this scene repeats annually, sadly.”
Furtula says the garbage, which additionally contains the occasional house equipment, is carried from the Drina’s upstream tributaries the place rising water ranges after heavy rains or snow wash rubbish from close by waste websites into the river.
“You could find actually something you possibly can consider within the Drina river…lifeless animals, medical waste, automotive elements,” Furtula mentioned. “We’re like a form of a regional waste depot as a result of this trash has not been produced by Visegrad residents however by these residing in cities upstream.”
He mentioned poisonous waste threatened the river’s delicate ecological system and when it’s burnt additionally the air Visegrad residents and guests should breath.
“This can be a large catastrophe and disgrace for all of us, we’re exhibiting the world a foul image,” Furtula mentioned, including that ecologists suspect the river can also be contaminated by heavy metals, and {that a} thorough water evaluation can be undertaken this yr.
Homeowners and staff of inns and eating places in Visegrad, identified for its Ottoman-era bridge made well-known by Yugoslav Nobel literature prize winner Ivo Andric, additionally complain that the waste dump is hurting tourism.
“Vacationers first spot the rubbish dump within the Drina and make damaging feedback – this influences each the tourism and the individuals who stay right here,” mentioned Dijana Rajic, chief receptionist on the Andricev Konak resort.
The Visegrad hydro-power plant couldn’t instantly be reached for remark over a vacation interval.