No fireworks and filters on chimneys: Banja Luka tightens fight for clean air

(Patria) - Banja Luka Mayor Draško Stanivuković has proposed a set of measures aimed at improving air quality.

The proposal is that filters on the chimneys of all individual and collective heating units become mandatory, and once the final price is determined, the possibility of subsidising them will be considered.

During the New Year holidays, pyrotechnics, i.e. fireworks, will not be used, and citizens have been urged to do the same.

Work will be done on introducing electric buses and increasing subsidies for public transport in order to reduce the number of cars in traffic, and stricter vehicle technical inspections will be insisted upon.

Along with stricter controls on gas emitters, inspections of all potential polluters will be intensified, without exception, the City Administration announced.

It was also emphasised that the construction of green barriers and tree lines continues, as well as the expansion of the district heating system.

"We must seek concrete solutions that have only one goal – clean air," said Stanivuković.

He pointed out that he does not view any well-intentioned proposal, regardless of which side it comes from, as a political issue, but as a shared concern, because everyone breathes the same air.

Banja Luka was among five cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina this morning where the air was unhealthy, so citizens are advised to avoid staying outdoors.