{"id":509,"date":"2018-08-30T09:48:23","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T08:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/?p=509"},"modified":"2018-08-30T09:48:23","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T08:48:23","slug":"returning-river-riverbed-followed-protest-struggle-rivers-serbia-begun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/returning-river-riverbed-followed-protest-struggle-rivers-serbia-begun\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning the river to its riverbed, followed by a protest \u2013 the struggle for rivers in Serbia has only begun"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Sne\u017eana Lazi\u0107 \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few days after locals from the villages in Stara Planina (the Balkan Mountains) and activists belonging to an informal organization called Let\u2019s defend the rivers of Stara Planina returned the Rudinjskariver back to its natural riverbed, they began the preparations for a protest gathering against the construction of mini hydropower plants (MHP), scheduled to take place on the second of September, at the Red square in the city of Pirot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

An unknown person had made a barrier on the Rudinjska reka in Stara Planina, thus interfering with its water flow, and forcing it to run outside its natural riverbed.<\/p>\n

Self organized, and without the help of heavy machinery, locals and activists managed to return the river to its natural riverbed, thus performing a pioneer act of this kind, and marking a precedent in the region. The police, though present, didn\u2019t stop the activist from fulfilling their plan to place the river back to its natural riverbed.<\/p>\n

The activities of the informal group Let\u2019s defend the rivers of the Stara Planina\u00a0<\/em>have so far been organized through internet\/based social networks.<\/p>\n

Their Facebook group<\/a> has more than 45 000 members. The number of different civil society organizations engaged in the struggle is on the rise. Though this is a solitary example of an ecologically motivated organizing of this scope, a growing number of movements<\/a> and associations taking an ecologically progressive stand is obvious.<\/p>\n

It is reasonable to expect their collaboration with a double goal of establishing a wider interpretative perspective, and organizing into a more serious, formalised ecological movement.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oA19DOT-i8w<\/a>