The problem of air pollution, the lookout project on Banj brdo, urban mobility in Banja Luka, green areas and peri-urban forests as an important segment of the green matrix of the urban urban area, are some of the topics discussed yesterday at the meeting of the Center for Environment with Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković.
Considering the announcements about the continuation of the Krupa na Vrbasu hydropower plant project, which were fiercely criticized by the public and the Coalition for Vrbas, special focus was placed on this topic and the mayor was handed the Coalition requests stating the reasons against the construction of HPP Krupa na Vrbasu. The position of the City of Banja Luka on this issue was again requested. We remind you that in 2018, during the previous city government, the city of Banja Luka publicly declared that it is against the construction of this hydropower facility.
Yesterday’s meeting was an opportunity for the City of Banja Luka to join the municipalities from BiH that signed the declaration “Municipalities without dams” and thus contribute to the preservation of rivers and opt for responsible and sustainable access to natural resources and our rivers.
“Pohvalno je da kritike, oprečne stavove, sugestije i prijedloge možemo da iskažemo na sastanku ili u saradnji sa radnim timovima i predstavnicima administrativne službe. Vjerujem kako u javnom sektoru Centar za životnu sredinu slovi kao veliki kritičar rada javnih institucija, što bi trebala da bude funkcija svih udruženja građana, ali u našem radu imamo i prijedloge kako neke stvari u našem gradu mogu da se urade bolje”, istakao je Tihomir Dakić, predsjednik Centra za životnu sredinu.
Naglasio je da je svakako piralen jedna od nezaobilaznih tema na čijem će rješavanju Centar insistirati.
“Pored hitnog rješavanja problema piralena, još jednom smo skrenuli pažnju na projekat vidikovca na Banj brdu i činjenicu da smo dostavljali dopise vezane za ovaj projekat, jer smatramo da se izgradnjom ovakvog jednog objekta može dobiti više štete nego koristi”, kazao je Dakić.
Sa gradonačelnikom je pokrenuto i pitanje tretiranja otpadnih voda.
“Obzirom da su najavljene velike aktivnosti u pravcu rješavanja zagađenja Vrbasa otpadnim vodama, pratićemo te aktivnosti, koje generalno podržavamo, jer napokon adresiraju jedan od većih problema našeg grada. Jedan od naših fokusa mimo zagađenja same vode jeste i uzurpacija obala Vrbasa, te ćemo i u tom pravcu očekivati i zahtijevati rješenja”, rekla je Nataša Crnković, koordinatorka programa Biodiverzitet i zaštićena područja u Centru za životnu sredinu.
Istaknut je i problem sa aerozagađenjem te činjenica da je svake godine, posebno u zimskoj sezoni, vazduh u Banjaluci gotovo svaki dan u trećoj kategoriji kvaliteta, odnosno prekomjerno zagađen. Predstavnici Centra su postavili pitanje kada će biti donešen akcioni plan za kvalitet vazduha, šta će sve on podrazumijevati od konkretnih mjera i kada će biti razmatran na Skupštini Grada.
“It is commendable that we can express criticism, conflicting views, suggestions and proposals at a meeting or in cooperation with working teams and representatives of the administrative service.” I believe that in the public sector, the Center for Environment is known as a great critic of the work of public institutions, which should be the function of all citizens’ associations, but in our work we have suggestions on how some things in our city can be done better, “said Tihomir Dakić, President of the Center for Environment.
He emphasized that pyralene is certainly one of the unavoidable topics that the Center will insist on resolving.
“Apart from urgently solving the pyralene problem, we once again drew attention to the lookout project on Banj hill and the fact that we submitted letters related to this project, because we believe that building such a facility can do more harm than good,” Dakić said.
The issue of wastewater treatment was also raised with the mayor.
“Given that major activities have been announced in the direction of solving the pollution of Vrbas with wastewater, we will follow these activities, which we generally support, because they finally address one of the major problems of our city. One of our focuses beyond water pollution is the usurpation of the Vrbas riverbank, and we will expect and demand solutions in that direction, ” said Nataša Crnković, coordinator of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas program at the Center for Environment.
The problem with air pollution was also pointed out, as well as the fact that every year, especially in the winter season, the air in Banja Luka is in the third category of quality almost every day, ie excessively polluted. Representatives of the Center asked when the action plan for air quality will be adopted, what it will mean from concrete measures and when it will be discussed at the City Assembly.
Within the topic of urban mobility, the emphasis was placed on the study of the justification of changes in the traffic regime and modal redistribution for the streets of Mladen Stojanović-Kralja Petra I, ie Vidovdanska-Kninska, and Srpska. Also on the agenda was the Study of bicycle traffic for Banja Luka, which is being prepared. On this occasion, the representatives of the Center pointed out the need to primarily work on the revitalization of the existing pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in certain streets, which was usurped, damaged and interrupted – ie to return the existing situation on the ground to the condition provided by spatial planning documentation in these streets.
When it comes to urban green areas and peri-urban forests, it was pointed out that on the one hand the situation with forests around Banja Luka is satisfactory, and that the Center for the Environment has launched an initiative to protect this natural asset with the aim of keeping this green ”horseshoe” for the next generations and thus significantly increase the unenviably small percentage of protected natural values in the city.
“In the coming period, the Center will work on this protection initiative, and we hope for cooperation and support from the city administration on this issue.” On the other hand, urban greenery is at a disadvantage and a lot of work needs to be done to preserve and improve it. We emphasized that it is important that the city administration with all available measures encourages compliance with existing regulatory plans in the implementation of new construction projects, especially in terms of design and construction of planned green areas. The current practice reduces the total green area, and the microclimatic conditions are rapidly deteriorating. We certainly welcome the finalization and adoption of the new Urban Plan and we hope that this document, when implemented, will help a lot in the quality of the city’s development in the coming period, especially in terms of green areas, “said Aleksandra Anja Dragomirović from the Center for Environment.
The Center is certainly available to help with its expert opinions, contacts and initiatives, but it also promises to continue to monitor the work of all bodies of the City Administration that cover the topic of environment and space management.