22/12/2022

Illegal Artesian Well Discovered in Zaječar – Two Fountains in the “Ključ 3” Suburb Dried up

On December 15, 2022, in the suburb of Zaječar, journalists from the “Za media” production and representatives of the Association “Za Drinking Fountains” discovered an illegal artesian well at Petra Lekovića Street 2, in the household of Dušan Stojanović. They immediately informed the competent inspection and the management of the public company “Vodovod”, whose jurisdiction is the implementation of the Decision on the protection of artesian and subartesian fountains on the territory of the City of Zaječar.

On the same day, the technical director of the Public Utility Company “Vodovod” Nikola Šarčević and the head of the Department of Communal Militia (police) and Inspection Services Vladan Bojović came to the scene, and as the media team wanted to record all of this, the owner of the illegal well and his son verbally provoked the team, insulted and reviled, trying to prevent filming. Regardless of these circumstances, the camera recorded the erected tower and all the equipment they used for illegal drilling.

The journalist Dušan Vojvodić pointed out that it is the same man who drilled a well in the parking lot of the Hotel “Srbija Tis” a few years ago, after which five fountains in the city dried up.

Boban Pogarčić, representative of the Association “Za Drinking Fountains” and chairman of the Working Group for the Protection of Artesian Fountains, said that these illegal works are consequence of the scandalous decision of the Ministry of Mining and Energy of the
Republic of Serbia, according to which the water in the artesian fountains was declared as technical water. The Public Utility Company “Vodovod” and the Working Group for the Protection of Artesian Fountains officially submitted a report to the competent city inspection. They consider that the investor had committed a number of violations and that the city inspection would have to react.

On December 19, 2022, the residents of the “Ključ 3” suburb in Zaječar informed the media team and the Association “Za Drinking Fountains” that water dried up from two fountains in their neighborhood. Members of the Association “Za Drinking Fountains” said that within the project “Environmental response to mining expansion in Timočka Krajina” which is cofinanced by the European Union, their legal
and media team will continue to carefully monitor all the actions of the competent authorities in this case and publicly point out the failures of services or individuals who are obliged by law to react and protect the greatest good of the city of Zaječar.

Association “Za Drinking Fountains”

This text was produced within the project “Environmental response to mining expansion in Timočka Krajina” funded by the European Union, and implemented by the Association “Za Drinking Fountains”, the Association of Young Researchers Bor, Civic Library “Europe” Bor and Children’s Center Zaječar. The content of the text is entirely responsibility of these associations and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.