The City of Nis Assembly (Photo: Beta/Biljana Ljubisavljevic)
After more than 20 hours in session, the City of Nis Assembly passed a declaration banning all geological exploration, excavation and mining in source water protection zones and in protected natural and cultural and historical sites in the Nis area.
The declaration's sponsors were Tamara Milenkovic Kerkovic and Andrej Mitic, councillors of the Nis Natives Must Have a Say opposition group, with opposition councillors and councillors from the Serbian Progressive Party-led ruling majority voting in favor -- an uncommon occurrence in the Nis Assembly. Milenkovic Kerkovic said the decision was "trailblazing" and that she hoped other cities and municipalities would follow suit.
"The declaration obligates the Assembly, that is, each councillor in the Assembly, not to pass legal or urban planning documents that would allow or permit high-risk projects," she said.
She stressed that this applied especially to geological exploration, excavation and mining in the watersheds of rivers used for water supply to the population, spas or thermal water sources and "in protected natural and cultural and historical sites in the Nis area."
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