The unhealthy air in Sarajevo, which has been at the top of all the world’s most polluted city lists in recent days, has not surprised citizens this year. While many question the activities of the competent institutions in charge of fighting air pollution, the line ministry points out that individuals, polluters, must not forget how much they can contribute to the improvement of air quality.
Yesterday morning, Sarajevo was the second most polluted capital in the world with a pollution index of 168, according to AirVisual data. Only the capital of West Bengal, Kolkata, with an index of 180, was more polluted than the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Photos of masked citizens, Sarajevo streets in a cloud of smog, or those with tumps above the city where Sarajevo can hardly be seen from pollution, have been shared for days on social networks. Yesterday morning, British Ambassador Matthew Filed also complained about unhealthy air on Twitter.
‘’Time again for ‘fashion’ and health accessories,’’ Field wrote, with a photo showing his face with a mask in front of Sebilj.
It is important to mention that other cities in our country also have a high position on the list of the most polluted cities in the world. The unhealthy and almost dangerous air has been recorded in Zenica, Tuzla, Lukavac, and Ilijas in recent days.
As smog spreads through Sarajevo, the line Ministry of Physical Planning Construction and Environmental Protection of the Canton Sarajevo (CS) is preparing the measures that would contribute to the improvement of air quality.
The Minister of Physical Planning Construction Damir Filipovic said that this year there will be a ‘’wet process’’ in CS.
‘’Given the forecasts of expert bodies announcing unstable weather in the coming period, none of the air pollution readiness episodes is proposed. Unstable weather will disperse and reduce pollution, more precisely, it will improve air quality. On the other hand, until one episode of readiness comes, we can not propose any measures. What will be done this year, is a calcium fluoride wet process, which is part of the cantonal ecological action and emergency plan. This is done when the temperature is below negative five degrees. This process, according to the literature, reduces the presence of PM particles from the traffic between 20 and 30 percent because it binds the particles and does not allow them to be raised during increased traffic concentration. Each of the episodes of intervention measures has its own plan, so different payers will be obliged to implement their measures in the near future. These are certainly the inspection supervision of the individual and business firebox, the exclusion of vehicles from traffic and other similar measures,’’ said Minister Filipovic.
As one of the measures for improving air quality in CS, Filipovic also emphasizes subsidizing gas receptacles. To recall, the emissions from the combustion of natural gas are far lower than the emissions of solid and liquid fuels.
‘’Funds are also planned for this year to subsidize the procurement of certified furnaces and heat pumps, and to subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles in terms of electric scooters. We are trying to reduce the use of motor vehicles. The Ministry of Transport is of great importance in this process, because new, environmentally-friendly vehicles need to be introduced to public transportation, and thus to offer citizens an alternative so they could give up using their own vehicles and choose public transportation instead,’’ Filipovic added.
However, intensive cooperation at all levels of institutions is needed to implement all protection measures, Klix.ba portal reports.
