Around one thousand cows and 300 horses on Suva Planina are once again without a drop of water, which has not been delivered to them for five days by tankers from Niš’s public utility company JKP Mediana and the Ministry of Agriculture, warned herders, as reported by Tamara Milenković Kerković, a city councilwoman for the “Nišlije da se pitaju” (Nišlians to be asked) association and an activist who is trying to help solve this long-standing problem.
Herders had previously warned that water tankers from JKP Mediana stopped arriving at the watering holes of Suva Planina on July 12, and started delivering water again on July 16, “organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, and in cooperation with the local agricultural advisory and professional services (PSSS).”
Srećko Vukašinović, the director of PSSS Niš, then said that, in coordination with the Ministry, local governments, and farmers on the ground, “in the next 15 days, four tankers with drinking water will be sent daily to ensure sufficient quantities for the livestock.”
Vukašinović and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture did not explain why this type of aid would last for 15 days and whether it would be continued, Danas writes.
“The livestock and horses on the Rakoš plateau of Suva Planina are once again without a drop of water, this time there is only mud in the pools, and the hot days are just beginning. The pools are completely empty, and cows and calves stand in the mud trying to drink, as shown by the footage sent by the herders,” said Milenković Kerković, recalling that the water at Rakoš, the last spring on Suva Planina, disappeared at the end of June, and that for these animals, which are grazing there, at least 50 tons of water per day are needed.
She called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management, as well as the local governments of Niš, Bela Palanka, and Pirot, to continue delivering water today, and to “immediately approach a permanent solution to the problem of thirsty livestock in Rakoš.”
“I ask the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management, Dragan Glamočić, to urgently offer a solution to this problem in cooperation with the municipalities and herders. There is no waiting, because next year the situation will be much worse, and the livestock cannot last until October without daily water deliveries,” said Milenković Kerković, who is also a university professor.
She assessed that an urgent project for the permanent provision of water in Rakoš is needed, which will be agreed upon by the Ministry, the municipalities of Gadžin Han, Bela Palanka, and Pirot, as well as the herders, and they will participate in it organizationally and financially.
She also called on hydro engineers and experts in the field of hydrology to help with ideas and proposals, and the City of Niš to urge for the most urgent solution.
” ‘Nišlije da se pitaju’ believe that a useful project would be the construction of an artificial accumulation and a system of pumping stations that would ‘drive’ water from the lower Bela Palanka villages where the springs are far more abundant to the difficult-to-access Rakoš plateau. Until then, we offer herders help in the form of rainwater tanks that would be a temporary solution until the final water problem is resolved. If none of these solutions are available, the livestock and horses must be withdrawn from Rakoš, in order to prevent further and certain torture contrary to the Law on Animal Welfare,” she said.
She recalled that the problem of watering cows and horses of nomadic herders on Suva Planina has been ongoing since 2021, but that the water usually dried up at the end of August.
“Today, the situation is much more difficult and has all the elements of a natural disaster,” she said, adding that due to drastic climate change and drought, the Rakoš spring dried up a full three months earlier than in previous years, and that there is no water even in the Zaplanje villages located on and near Suva Planina.
According to her, Serbia is paying such heavy consequences not only because of climate change but also because of massive deforestation.
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A photograph of a cow kneeling on its front legs to reach a little water from a dry watering hole on Suva Planina, as well as video testimonies of the mass lowing of exhausted cows, the neighing of horses, the fighting of thirsty oxen, or calves lying at the end of their strength, last year shook social media, and to some extent, the authorities.
The municipality of Gadžin Han and the Serbian Army then urgently extended the contract for bringing water tankers, which had expired, which is why they temporarily did not go to the mountain.
The Ministry of Agriculture then said that those interested would be able to apply for funds to dig wells on Suva Planina this year, which is the only sustainable solution.
The state will provide money through a competition for development projects to “carry out the captage of water sources on the pastures, so that livestock can drink there during the dry summer.”
The thirst of the animals, which traditionally graze on Suva Planina and are very rarely fed, is most dramatic when the Rakoš spring dries up, which is why the three large concrete pools that collect water from the spring, and from which they drink, remain empty.
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Source: N1, Foto: Tamara Kerković