Inhabitants of the villages of Dubravice and Batovca, near Kostolac, started receiving questionnaires about relocation. The reason is expansion Kostolac Basin which, perhaps, will expand so much that life in these two villages becomes impossible.
In fact, according to the plan, the village of Dubravica should be completely engulfed by the surface mine. That is why the people of Dubrovnik are not left with a choice: the only question is where, how and when they will be resettled.
For the people of Batovac, the story is somewhat different, because the mine will come close enough for them to decide whether they want to move or stay on the edge of the Kostolac basin.
"Vreme" visited these villages at the beginning of September last year and wrote about what life looks like in constant uncertainty.
"We have a feeling that something is messed up. Look, let that project go, these will draw, some will do this, others will do that... Then we'll see. I have that feeling. We need coal, there's no discussion. But some experts also ask - why are you opening a hole at the confluence of the Velika Morava and the Danube?", said Dragoslav Obradović from Batov.
Fifty-fifty forecasts
Almost a year later, the locals are no closer to answers.
As the project manager of Elektroprivreda Srbije Ivan Tašić said at the presentation of the basis for the relocation of Dubravica and potentially Batovac on July 23, "The Republic of Serbia and the Government of Serbia will decide what will happen to this mine."
"My forecasts are approximately 50-50 percent. There are some European regulations, maybe nothing will come of it, for example the recommendation of some European commission is to not produce more electricity from coal. You are aware that you need coal and that the Republic of Serbia is energy dependent at the moment and I would not like it to remain that way, so we will have to have 50 percent of electricity from a stable source - for now it is only coal. All other options - wind, water, you yourself are aware that it is quite unsafe and it would lead to energy instability of the entire country," said Tašić.
What does it say in the questionnaires?
Although the state does not yet know what will happen with this project, the residents of Dubravići and Batovci are expected to submit all answers to the local offices by July 30. It was pointed out that the questionnaire is only preliminary, until one day the locals sign the contract, which is legally binding.
Questionnaires for the residents of Batovac and Dubravica are essentially the same - the only difference between them is the question "Do you want to stay living in Batovac after the opening of the Zapadni Kostolac surface mine".
In the questionnaires sent to the residents of these villages, questions such as: "Which method of household relocation have you decided?", and respondents can answer whether they want collective or individual relocation, as well as choose different variants of collective relocation.
Also, if the respondent decided to move independently, he was asked about the location of the move.
The last question in the questionnaire refers to the relocation of the grave site.
Resistance of the locals
As explained at the presentation, collective relocation will be possible only if at least 200 households opt for that option.
Many residents of Dubravica, however, decided to boycott this way of expressing themselves, dissatisfied with the information that is being fed to them and the fact that they are being forced to leave their ancestral homes, Dejan Životić, a resident of this village, told "Vreme".
"I'm not going to give them any feedback so that they don't think for a moment that they have the green light for something like this. Many people think the same as I do," says the "Vremena" interlocutor.
He explains that the residents of Dubravica have been living in ignorance for a long time, and that they are not sure how the state will assess the value of their property and whether it will be paid fairly. These, among other things, were the biggest concerns of the locals at the presentation of the questionnaire.
Životić adds that the question is also what will happen to drinking water.
"Even if we have to move, what will happen until that moment? Who will guarantee us a normal life with a well nearby? For example, I'm sure that building that well means we can say goodbye to healthy drinking water. But no one mentions that."
In this village, tests and soil drilling have been going on for years. However, the mood of the locals is slowly starting to change. As our interlocutor says, many no longer allow drilling on their properties, despite financial compensation.
"The question is whether anything will come of it. The European Union, which would perhaps invest in it, is increasingly switching to renewable energy sources. Another option is the Chinese. If that happens, we will end up like the cities in eastern Serbia," concludes Životić.
What is known so far?
As it is written in the Spatial Plan of the City of Požarevac, in the Western part of the Kostolac lignite basin, the development of the Zapadni Kostolac mine, with a total capacity of 190 x 106 tons of coal, which will be exploited for 31 years, is planned (Feasibility study of the exploitation of the Zapadni Kostolac deposit, 2024).
The opening of the mine will begin in 2028, i.e. after preparatory activities, coal mining is expected in 2031.
The settlement of Dubravica is located in the expansion zone of this mine, which must be relocated by 2035, according to the document. The settlement of Batovac will be located on the edge of this surface mine and will be exposed to the indirect impacts of mining activities, and potentially relocated in whole or in part.
The closer conditions of population resettlement (dynamics, forms of compensation, choice of locations, etc.) from these settlements will be defined in the Program Basics and Resettlement Programs, which are an integral part of the Spatial Plan of the Special Purpose Area of the Kostolac Coal Basin, and whose preparation is underway, the document states.
