Government of Sarajevo Canton adopts Plan of Emergency Measures in Cases of Excessive Air Pollution

Given the pronounced trend of increasing concentrations of pollutants in the Canton during the winter period, especially the presence of particulate matter (PM10), for the purpose of more efficient implementation of measures, the Government of Sarajevo Canton at today's session, upon the proposal of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection, adopted the Plan of Emergency Measures in Cases of Excessive Air Pollution in Sarajevo Canton. Care was taken to ensure that this plan is implementable, Patria reports.

Compared to the old Plan, changes in measures during the Alert episode include a measure whereby all legal entities, depending on their capabilities, may shift the start of working hours in order to relieve the capacity of public city transport and city roads. At the suggestion of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton, the measure that implied the exclusion of all cars whose engines have a standard lower than Euro3 was changed, and a new measure was introduced excluding motor vehicles whose petrol engines have a standard lower than Euro1 and diesel engines lower than Euro3. The reason is the far greater emission of particulate matter from motor vehicles with diesel engines.

A measure of a full-day traffic ban for freight motor vehicles with a maximum permissible mass over 3.5 tons was introduced, in accordance with the situation on the ground on the Baščaršija – Ilidža route in both directions. A warning measure was introduced for all thermal energy production plants with a power over 50kW that use solid fuels and heating oil, reducing the temperature in the spaces they heat by a minimum of 2°C.

The measure restricting the operation of thermal energy production plants that use solid fuels and heating oil was changed, with enhanced inspection supervision in terms of controlling entities regarding compliance with the measures from the Plan, and a ban on performing rough construction works in open and closed spaces.