Due to high temperatures, the citizens of Tešanj are facing restrictions in water supply these days.
Although the reductions are not official, they have been active for fifteen days. In the utility company, citizens are invited to save.
At the same time, the municipal government found itself the target of criticism due to the fact that it spent about three million marks in the construction of new wells in three years, and the reductions are still there.
Currently, 9,500 users or 30,000 residents are connected to the city’s water supply system, and these days they face unannounced water cuts.
“Very difficult. There is no water. “Whoever has, as they say, livestock, who has cattle, it’s normal that it’s difficult,” says Behija Kunalić, a resident of Tešanj.
“I guess it will be better. We expect rain and that’s it,” says Senada Kurtanović, a resident.
In the utility company, they point out that, despite the difficult hydrological situation, they deliver sufficient amounts of water to the network.
“Some four and a half thousand cubic meters is enough for normal water supply needs in the Tešanj municipality. We currently, here is the data from this morning, delivered 5,300 cubic meters”, says Hasan Handžić, director of JP Rad, Tešanj.
Of this quantity, only 300 cubic meters were delivered from the source of Mekiš-Stupa, which used to be the mainstay of the water supply.
“A capacity of less than five liters per second has never been recorded. “We currently have a situation where that flow has dropped to two liters per second,” adds Handžić.
A similar situation three years ago cost the former director of JP “Rad” a new mandate, who, then and now, holds the authorities in the municipality responsible.
“The utility company really did then, and I believe it is still doing now, both the management and the new director, everything in accordance with their capabilities and competences to manage what the founder gave it to manage”, claims Adnan Lihić, former director of JP Rad, Tesanj.
“We are currently keeping our system at a level of 22.38 percent of losses, and that is the best result in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” emphasized Handžić.
Despite requests to declare a state of natural disaster and reduce water supply, the authorities have not yet done so.
“It is, to put it mildly, a reduction. Whether it is of the first degree, or already of the second degree, the authorities need to declare it right now, but really after three years and after three million, this should not have happened”, Lihić added.
“If we hadn’t done what we did, we, like Tešanj, would have already had a month and a half to two reductions,” said Suad Huskić, head of Tešanj Municipality (SDA).
In the past two years, two new wells worth about 1.5 million marks were built in the catchment of the Usora River. A new one of 850,000 is planned, partially financed by the competent cantonal ministry from water fees.
“The municipality of Tešanj received about 640,000 marks and I think that after the city of Zenica it is the second that received the largest financial expenditure from that transfer,” said Jasmin Čajić, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the ZDK (SDA).
The new well should be in operation by the end of the year. Until then, negotiations are underway with the neighboring municipality of Teslić on the urgent delivery of 20 liters of water per second.
“But we are also reviewing the possibility of deep wells, building a reservoir, and even filtering the Usora River,” said Huskić.
The preparation of the Study on Water Supply is underway, which should guide activities in this area for the next thirty years, Federalna writes.
