Lake Prokoško has been declared a monument of Bosnian nature. However, illegal construction, driving quad bikes past the roads day after day creates a polluted swamp from the pearl of nature.
Prokoško Lake is a protected area, and the Government of the Central Bosnia Canton adopted in March 2022 the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Declaring Prokoško Lake a Natural Monument, which should enable the authorities to better control the area of Prokoško Lake and to stop illegal construction.
However, instead of stopping illegal construction, the authorities decided to legalize existing buildings.
Every day the situation at Prokoški jezera is only getting worse. As Vladimir Topić from the Center for the Environment told Klix.ba, nothing is being done to maintain and prevent new damage.
“The situation is getting worse every year, waste water from illegally built buildings ends up in the lake,” he said.
According to activist reports, a trout was thrown into the lake and it ate a native newt. The locals divert the water from the spring into their houses and gardens instead of into the lake, which dries it up. Experts have already established that the process of turning the lake into a swamp is underway.
A big problem is created by ATVs that drive around the protected area and by the roads.
As Topić said, no work was done on the protection of this area for the last twenty years, which led to such a situation. Numerous associations fighting for the preservation of Prokoški Jezera appealed to the authorities, but each time they encountered a wall. During the last years, numerous petitions were signed, but there were no results from them.
The situation on Lake Prokoška is a topic that is also dealt with by the Atelier Foundation for Social Changes. They counted as many as 346 cottages, cabins or cottages next to the lake.
“For this ecocide and gross violation of legal regulations, you guessed it, no one was held accountable. Apart from a couple of cosmetic activities, the local and cantonal authorities have not taken anything concrete to stop this ecocide, so we can say that Lake Prokoško is one of the most representative examples of anarchy and dysfunctional systems in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, the Foundation states.
Prokoško Lake has become an example of the terrible attitude towards the pearl of our country and the negligence of the authorities. And while everyone is silent, while individuals try to earn more money, the nature monument, the protected area of Bosnia and Herzegovina is disappearing.
Although the authorities are most responsible for the negligence and destruction of the lake, it is still the citizens who divert the water, build facilities, drive quad bikes and leave garbage. This attitude of people towards nature results in the destruction of a natural lake. Prokoško Lake has become a tourist attraction thanks to its untouched nature, but thanks to man it is suffering a terrible ecological disaster.
Source: klix.ba
