In Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, rivers that were previously renowned for their emerald color and crystal-clear waters are now clogged with heaps of trash following flooding in mid-January.
Balkan Rivers Choked With Trash
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Formerly one of Europe's cleanest rivers, the Lim River in Serbia was once again choked with trash after floods in mid-January.
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On January 26, sanitation workers and environmentalists pushed the waste to shore in boats, dug it out, and loaded it into trucks near the Serbian town of Priboj.
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On average, around 25 trucks are filled with waste daily.
"We take out refrigerators, freezers, domestic animals. We even took out a gravestone. Until you see it, it's hard to imagine what is being thrown into the river," Sinisa Lakovic from the Jastreb Ecological Association told RFE/RL.
"We take out refrigerators, freezers, domestic animals. We even took out a gravestone. Until you see it, it's hard to imagine what is being thrown into the river," Sinisa Lakovic from the Jastreb Ecological Association told RFE/RL.
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The southwestern Serbian town of Priboj, where the Lim River flows, is ground zero for the accumulation of tons of waste dumped in poorly regulated riverside landfills or directly into waterways that flow across the western Balkans.
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Though the situation is slowly improving, Lakovic told RFE/RL that the largest amount of waste now comes from Montenegro.
"In Bijelo Polje, there is an industrial zone right on the banks of the Lim River. In Berane, there are two car scrap yards on the banks of the Lim, where things that cannot be sold are stored -- bumpers, tanks, roofs. As soon as the level of the Lim rises, all of this will reach us."
"In Bijelo Polje, there is an industrial zone right on the banks of the Lim River. In Berane, there are two car scrap yards on the banks of the Lim, where things that cannot be sold are stored -- bumpers, tanks, roofs. As soon as the level of the Lim rises, all of this will reach us."
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Floating barriers were installed four years ago to protect the turbines at Potpec hydropower plant near Priboj.
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Last year, about 1,500 cubic meters of garbage was also removed from the more than 50 illegal landfills along the Lim River basin.
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The Drina River near Visegrad in Bosnia-Herzegovina was also turned into a floating waste dump as the river turns southwest and becomes the Lim River.
"This issue has been prevalent for the past two decades in Visegrad and it poses a significant ecological disaster," environmental activist Dejan Furtula said.
"This issue has been prevalent for the past two decades in Visegrad and it poses a significant ecological disaster," environmental activist Dejan Furtula said.
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An aerial view of the floating waste on the Drina River.
"This is a source of great embarrassment for all of us, as we seem unable to solve this issue for such a prolonged period," Furtula said.
"This is a source of great embarrassment for all of us, as we seem unable to solve this issue for such a prolonged period," Furtula said.
