Vera Katz and Aida Ramic of the History Institute of the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) described the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) during the major floods in May 1965. Their description showed that we did not learn a lesson from the mistakes that have been made for decades.
They did that in the scientific paper “The Great Floods in Doboj and Olovo – an example from May 1965” from 2017, which was published in the journal “Historical Thought”. In addition to the mentioned year, they mentioned that major floods in the second half of the 20th century in BiH occurred in 1952, 1959, 1968,and 1974.
In a review of the 1965 floods, they emphasized that the disaster began on the night of May 12th-13 in Olovo.
“However, when there were sudden ‘cloudbursts’, like the situation in Olovo on the night between May 12th and 13th 1965, and when the torrents of the rivers Stupcanica and Biostica flow into Olovo, where about 2.500 people live, then the dramatic nature of the event is evident from the first newspaper report: “There is darkness all around. Only the street lights on the poles are up, and poles are almost halfway in the water. Due to the penetration of water into the substation, thelights in the houses were turned off as a prevention of electricity strikes, ” it was stated.
They noted that urbanization – the construction of buildings and railways – the settlement of lowland areas and natural-geographical features contributed to the large part of Doboj being flooded in 1965. This disaster also hit Sarajevo at that time.
In Olovo, Doboj, and other cities in BiH, they were then aware of the causes of floods and how they could be reduced. In this paper, the causes were explained, the inadequate urbanizationand the lack of awareness of ecology. The authorities promised solutions, but they were never fully realized.
The reason for publishing this scientific work was the catastrophic floods from May 2014, when both Doboj and Olovo suffered again. Considering the previously stated facts, it is noticeable that the causes of the flood are the same nowadays.
E.Dz.
Source: Klix.ba
