EPA determined that works were carried out in Đalovića Pećina without the necessary permits: The investor is causing damage to the protected property

During the execution of part of the works on Đalovića Cave, the Directorate for Capital Projects, formerly the Directorate of Public Works, caused damage to the environment within the protected area of ​​Đalovića Gorge, in the municipality of Bijelo Polje. The damage was caused by the activity of breaking through the entrance to the upper and dry part of the cave, and the works were carried out without obtaining the necessary permits.

This, among other things, is stated in the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which "Vijesti" had access to.

In the decision of November 11, it is written that the Agency determined that as a result of the implementation of the first phase of the project "Tourist valorization of the cave above Vražji firovi (Đalovića pećina) with the arrangement of part of the cave" and the performance of the activity of breaking the entrance to the upper and dry part of the cave, it was carried out without obtaining the necessary permits , "the operator, the Administration for Capital Projects of Montenegro, caused damage to the environment... which manifests itself through damage caused to protected species of animals, in this particular case Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, a protected natural species, as well as damage to stalagmites and other cave jewelry in the part of Đalović caves".

The management was ordered, among other things, to suspend all further works concerning the entrance and the inner part of the cave until permits and approvals are obtained.

"As the project also plans the arrangement of the cave itself and its entrance, it is necessary to obtain approval for prescribed actions and activities that can be performed in speleological facilities, with the previously obtained permission of the Agency prescribed in Article 69 of the Law on Nature Protection," the decision adds, with note that the works can only continue after obtaining the necessary permits.

The Directorate for Capital Projects was also ordered to strictly prohibit entry and physically prevent third parties from accessing the Đalović Cave, "for reasons and the need to determine the exact condition found due to the lack of data on the original condition of the cave."

The administration was also ordered to determine the found state of plant and animal species, inventory of cave jewelry, as well as monitoring of the cave ecosystem (moisture, temperature, CO, CO2,...) before physically closing the entrance to the cave, to determine the found state at its own expense and set up meters to monitor those parameters. In addition, the Administration is obliged to inform the competent, i.e. Environmental Inspection, Environmental Protection Agency and local self-government (Municipality of Bijelo Polje) about the measurement results.

The Agency notes that it is also necessary to obtain a permit for these actions and activities.

The administration was ordered to close the artificially opened entrance to the Đalovića cave, "which will contribute to the creation of the microclimate conditions that existed before the opening of the passage".

It is also added that the material removed during the drilling of the artificial entrance to the cave (broken stone-rock) must be used to close the passage.

"In other words, material from the site, where care must be taken to prevent it from collapsing into the inner part of the cave, which could contribute to an additional chain of damage to the cave and its jewelry," the decision reads.

For these activities, the Administration was given a deadline of 15 days from the receipt of the decision.

Within 30 days, the Administration is obliged to submit to the Agency for approval a proposal for remediation measures due to the damage caused to the environment.

Due to the well-founded suspicion that inadequate treatment in the part of the protected area "Đalovića Gorge", in the Đalovića Cave, on the territory of the Bjelopolje municipality, by breaking through one of the entrances, directly affected the microclimate of the cave and that its ecosystem was thereby disturbed, the Agency recently submitted to the Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT ) in Bijelo Polje also filed a criminal complaint against an unknown person.

In the report, among other things, it is written that the EPA never issued a permit for the activities and works related to breaking through the entrance to the upper and dry part of the cave, and that these activities resulted in the destruction of the environment, when, among other things, it died about one hundred individuals, that is, about four percent of the total population of bats known so far in Montenegro.

The Agency started activities to determine potential damage in September, after they were informed that inadequate actions may be being carried out in the area under national protection.

In the Report on the execution of the capital investment plan of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje for the year 2021, it is reminded that the Đalovića Cave valorization project is a multi-year project, that the total value of the contracts concluded so far is over 23 million euros. It also says that it is planned to complete all contracted works by the end of 2023.

The first phase of the works includes the construction of a service facility and the arrangement of part of the cave - the construction of the access path from the facility to the cave and the entrance tunnel into the interior of the cave, and the second phase is the arrangement of its interior. The contract with the contractor of the first phase, the report says, was concluded for the amount of almost two million, and with the contractor of the second phase for the amount of around 2,6 million euros.

The capital budget for 2023 left 1,9 million euros for the continuation of the Đalovića Cave valorization project.