Serbia used almost all its capacities for dredging the Danube

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia said that the country has used all its capacities to carry out dredging works on the Danube in the section of the Novy Sad city.

This was reported by Reuters with the reference to the assistant of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Veljko Kovacevic.

The works are being carried out near the second largest Serbian city, Novy Sad. Usually, the shipping channel in that area has a width of several hundred meters. But drought and record high temperatures have reduced this channel to a narrow lane only being kept open by dredging, with the water depth no more than waist high across almost half of the river’s width.

“We have deployed almost our entire dredging capacity… We are struggling to keep out waterways navigable along their full length,” said Veljko Kovacevic, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transportation.

Meteorological data show that the water depth in the Danube is less than half of the usual August level.

Also, the low level of water in the rivers threatens wildlife and fishing, reports Maria Trivuncevic from the fishing association of the Vojvodina province.

“Over the past several months we had situations when some water levels almost fell below the biological minimum,” she said.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the water level in many European rivers has dropped as a result of the drought, which is exacerbated by abnormal heat. For example, the Rhine water level, the most important river for Europe’s transport industry, has dropped to a new minimum in its key section, causing problems with the transportation of fuel and other goods.