Great Bačka Canal
Great Bačka Canal (Serbian: Велики бачки канал/Veliki bački kanal) is a canal in Serbia which runs from Bezdan (on the Danube) to Bečej (on the Tisa). The canal is 118 km long and it is part of the Danube-Tisa-Danube Canal system. The excavation of Great Bačka Canal began in 1794 and lasted until 1801. Bed of the canal is 17 m wide and 25 m wide at the top. The average depth is 3 m. Water in the canal is very polluted due to the fact that it runs through industrial towns such as Vrbas, Kula and Crvenka.
Because of the long pollution, the canal not only is too small for navigation, but also is dangerous to bathe in. The ministry of protection of environment of Serbia included it in the list of «three black points» of the country.[1] The pollution of the canal began in the second half of the 20th century with plumes of waste in its waters. According to a number of researchers, the canal is considered one of the most polluted reservoirs in Europe and poses a threat to human health, of the people living in nearby settlements. At the bottom of the canal there is up to 400,000 tons of silt which contains heavy metals and oil waste which also reach the rivers connected by the channel — the Danube and the Tisa. In 2008 the minister of environmental protection signed the Memorandum of canal cleaning.
See also
- Little Bačka Canal
- Danube-Tisa-Danube Canal