Tek kada ga masakriraju komarci, a za grlo uštine neindentifikovani element onoga što bi trebalo da je vazduh koji diše, ili mu smrad uđe u poslepodnevnu kafu kod Moskve, prosečan čovek počinje da izgovara reči: „Ekologija“! „Životna sredina“! „Zagađenje“!

Do tada, ove reči su samo deo nama svima već odavno neželjenih političkih kampanja i zimskih izveštaja u jutarnjem programu.

Ja sam običan, prosečan čovek. Živim u centru Beograda i manje-više cele godine izbegavam prolazak pored dorćolskih šahtova, zimi psujem ove što lože – kućne peći ili toplanu – svejedno, šljapkam u gumenjacima kad padne malo jača kiša i sēdim čekajući da dođe tramvaj koji ne može da ide po poplavljenim šinama. 

Imam nekoliko bliskih članova porodice, par prijatelja i kolega koji žive u naseljima duž Zrenjaninskog puta. Često ih posećujem. Ali, tempiram vreme posete. Tako već decenijama.

Ako je leto, prethodno se naoružam Autanom, jer sam se ne jednom vratila otečena od ujeda rojeva komaraca sa kojima stanovnici, na primer Koteža i Krnjače, već mogu i stranku da osnuju.

Da imam moć da se vratim dvadeset godina unazad, prelazak preko Pančevca dao bi mi priliku da oči odmaram na poljima na kojima se tek pogdegde vidi usamljena kuća. Onda red prizemnih kuća, pa opet duga nepregledna ravnica. 

Nemam vremensku kapsulu, a ni helikopter da prelećem do kuća onih sa kojima bih želela da proćaskam oči u oči, posetim ih kada su bolesni ili im dođem na slavu. Nemaju ni oni kada mile preko onog istog mosta da bi došli do posla, lekara, novih cipela, hrane, pozorišta, škole.

U međuvremenu, naselja Krnjača i Kotež, dobila su na desetine hiljada novih stanovnika. Ljudi žive u, najčešće pravno neregulisanim objektima, raznih veličina. Žive i sa navikama – nenavikama donesenim sa raznih strana, sa obećanjima, verovatno i nadanjima da će živeti bolje.

Odakle god da su došli, verujem da baš i nisu očekivali da će proći decenije, da će odgajiti decu, poženiti ih i poudavati, sahraniti roditelje ili komšije i prijatelje, a da će sve to vreme, na 5-7 kilometara od ljutog centra Beograda živeti bez kanalizacije. Čitave zgrade od četrdesetak stanova, sa kovanim ogradama ili onim običnim, sa ružičastim, rezedozelenim ili jarkožutim fasadama, ili kuće u raznim fazama dovršenosti.

Nisu sigurno došli da, već od sredine maja, ne mogu da dišu od smrada kanala kojima su ova naselja opasana, da će kuće graditi u sojenica stilu jer, ako padne kiša, skupljaj lavore i baštenske makaze kod komšije u trećem sokaku. Nema kišne kanalizacije, pa je nekad  i ceo Zrenjaninski put poplavljen. 

U vreme kada sam ja bila dete i odlazila u posetu svojoj omiljenoj tetki u Jabučki rit, mnogo udaljeniji od mog Dorćola, od Koteža ili Krnjače, kanali su bili prostori tišine u koje su muškarci odlazili da pobegnu od žena i mudruju nad pecaroškim štapovima. Ne znam da li i šta pecaju današnji momci, ali ja sam dolazeći u ovaj kraj grada videla samo žabokrečinu, mulj i osetila tako strašan smrad da se neću skoro vraćati.

Nasip, na kome sam rano letos pratila dve rode i slikala nesvakidašnje prizore zalazaka Sunca i leptire svih boja, ugrožen je divljim deponijama. Iz vode u nekoliko vrbaka viri drveće kao idealna scena za horor filmove, iako, samo pet minuta hoda dalje, neke lepe retke ptice, lagano plove po prirodnom jezeru ispod nasipa. 

Za vreme vanrednog stanja prošle godine iz kanala su komunalci vadili sve i svašta. Žitelji, tik pred svojim kućama, bacaju u kanale sve što im je višak. Ne znam da li je to tako zbog neznanja, bezobrazluka, lenjosti, da li bez razlike važi pravilo da je kuća samo do praga na kome stoji otirač sa natpisom Welcome. Čak i da je sve od prethodno navedenog, zar nema mogućnosti da se ljudi opomenu, nauče, kazne – štagod je dalo rezultate u belom svetu?

Moja prijatejica i koleginica se pita: 

• Kanal od zgrade kanalizacije u Kotežu do restorana Bitolj u Krnjači je prepun otpada cele godine. Ko je nadležan da ga prazni?
• Kanal na prvoj stanici autobusa 43 u naselju Kotež je leglo smrada, žabokrečine i otpada. Ko je nadležan da ga čisti?
• Posebno zanimljivo je izlivanje septičkih jama u Kotežu; posebno deo oko osnovne škole „Zaga Malivuk“ koji je kod malo veće kiše prekriven vodom  koja nigde ne otiče već se meša sa otpadnim vodama iz jama. Ko je za to nadležan?
• Duž Zrenjaninskog puta je mnoštvo prodavnica, ljudi odlaze u snabdevanje svakodnevno, a pritom, prolaze kroz kanale prepune đubreta, izvor zaraze, i to posle unose u kuće. 
• Čitave zgrade su sagrađene, na primer u Krnjači, i stanari su se zaduživali kreditno kod ovdašnjih banaka, uz regularno izdatu upotrebnu dozvolu, a da je pri tom cela zgrada na jednoj septičkoj jami, koju Grad prazni jednom mesečno. Stanari, u zavisnosti od sastava kućnih saveta, možda još i skupe novac za neko pražnjenje jame između, ali to nije stalno, i ne daje rezultate. Kiša svaki put dovede do izlivanja ovih jama. Kako su Metro i još poneki objekat prodaje, priključeni na gradsku kanalizaciju, logično pitanje glasi: „Zašto nisu priključene i ove zgrade“?

Sve što mi je nabrojala, onako usput u telefonskom razgovoru, našla sam sa datumima 2009, 2010 – 2021/22 u raznim onlajn novinama, portalima, lokalinim fejsbuk grupama. Ništa se nije promenilo. 

Da je do kažnjavanja – za deceniju da su po desetoro kažnjavali, pa valjda bi se narod naučio redu.

Kako i da ih naučite redu kada vide da dozvolu za gradnju dobijaju razni, pucnuvši prstima. Ljudi će vam reći: „Ako njega niko ne kazni što sagradi pet umesto tri spratova, pa neće ni mene što sam bacio šporet u kanal“.

Da je do plaćanja priključka za kanalizaciju – valjda bi i na to narod pristao, ako su osamdesetogodišnji penzioneri po Dorćolu pristajali da im uvode centralno grejanje u stanove. Čovek uvek želi bolje, samo ako mu neko ponudi.

Za svako od naselja sa one strane Pančevačkog mosta mogla bi se postavljati pitanja do u nedogled:

• Za ritove i staru populaciju koja živi u njima jer su svi koji su mogli pobegli
• Za Ovču u kojoj izvor izuzetno mineralne vode pravi veštačko jezerce, u kome se brčkaju i blatom mažu pretežno stari i bolesni – a sve pored kanala u koji lokalni živalj odvodi prljavštinu iz svojih staja
• Stara zapuštana Bip fabrika iza koje se proteže naselje čijom sam veličinom bila šokirana, a sve to u okruženju močvare – ko zna čime ispunjene jer su u okolini brojni hipermarketi razne robe i stovarišta
• Naselja oko Pančevačkog mosta, divlja, poludivlja, deponska
• „Elitni“ bazenski i spa kompleksi okruženi zapušenim zelenim kanalima

Mnogo je takvih priča, a zapravo samo jedna: potreba savremenog čoveka da živi u koliko–toliko uređenom okruženju ostvaruje se kroz učenje, obaveštavanje, predviđanje, regulisanje na nivou zakonodavstva, ali i domaćinskog ponašanja.

Only when mosquitoes massacre him, and an unidentified element stings his throat as he breathes what should be air, or when the stench infiltrates his afternoon coffee near Moscow, does the average person begin to utter the words: „Ecology“! „Environment“! „Pollution“! Until then, these words are just part of long-unwanted political campaigns and winter reports on the morning program.

I am an ordinary, average person. I live in the center of Belgrade and avoid passing by the manholes in Dorćol more or less all year round. In winter, I curse those who burn—whether it’s home stoves or the central heating plant—either way, I slosh around in rubber boots when it rains heavily and wait for the tram that can’t run on flooded tracks.

I have several close family members, a couple of friends, and colleagues who live in settlements along the Zrenjanin road. I visit them often. But, I time my visits. I’ve been doing it for decades.

If it’s summer, I arm myself with insect repellent, because I’ve returned swollen from mosquito bites more than once, with residents of places like Kotež and Krnjača, who could practically form a political party.

If I had the power to go back twenty years, crossing over the Pančevac bridge would give me the chance to rest my eyes on fields where only a solitary house is occasionally visible. Then rows of single-story houses, followed by the vast endless plain again.

I don’t have a time capsule, nor a helicopter to fly over to the homes of those I’d like to chat with face to face, visit them when they’re sick, or come over for their slava. They don’t have it either when they cross the same bridge to get to work, doctors, new shoes, food, theater, or school.

In the meantime, the settlements of Krnjača and Kotež have gained tens of thousands of new residents. People live in mostly legally unregulated buildings of various sizes. They live with habits—unhabits brought from various places, with promises, probably with hopes of living better.

Wherever they came from, I don’t believe they expected decades to pass, to raise children, marry and marry, bury parents or neighbors and friends, all the time, 5-7 kilometers from the fierce center of Belgrade, to live without sewage. Entire buildings of around forty apartments, with forged fences or those ordinary, with pink, beige-green, or bright yellow facades, or houses in various stages of completion.

They certainly didn’t come expecting that, already from mid-May, they wouldn’t be able to breathe due to the stench of the canals surrounding these settlements, that they would build houses in a makeshift style because if it rains, they gather buckets and garden scissors from neighbors in the third alley. There’s no rain drainage, so sometimes even the entire Zrenjaninski put floods.

Back when I was a child visiting my favorite aunt in Jabučki Rit, much further away from my Dorćol, Kotež, or Krnjača, the canals were quiet places where men went to escape their wives and ponder over fishing rods. I don’t know if and what the guys today fish, but coming to this part of town, all I saw was frog spawn, mud, and smelled such a terrible stench that I won’t be back soon.

The embankment where I watched two storks early this summer and captured unusual scenes of sunsets and butterflies of all colors is threatened by wild dumps. Trees are sticking out of the water in several willows, creating an ideal scene for horror movies, although just a five-minute walk away, some beautiful rare birds are peacefully gliding on the natural lake beneath the embankment.

During the state of emergency last year, municipal workers were pulling out all sorts of things from the canals. Residents, right in front of their homes, throw into the canals everything they have in excess. I don’t know if this is due to ignorance, impudence, laziness, whether it’s a matter of the rule that the house is only up to the threshold where the doormat with the inscription Welcome stands. Even if it’s all of the above, isn’t there a possibility to warn, educate, penalize people—whatever has produced results in the developed world?

My friend and colleague wonders:

1. The canal from the sewage building in Kotež to Bitolj restaurant in Krnjača is full of waste throughout the year. Who is responsible for emptying it?

2. The canal at the first bus station of bus 43 in Kotež is a nest of stench, frogspawn, and waste. Who is responsible for cleaning it?

3. Particularly interesting is the overflow of septic tanks in Kotež, especially around the „Zaga Malivuk“ elementary school area, which becomes covered with water that doesn’t drain anywhere but mixes with wastewater from the tanks during heavy rain. Who is responsible for this?

4. Along Zrenjaninski put, there are numerous shops where people go for daily supplies, passing through trash-filled canals, a source of contamination, before bringing it into their homes.

5.Entire buildings have been constructed, for example in Krnjača, and residents have taken on credit from local banks, with a valid building permit, but the entire building is on a single septic tank, which the City empties once a month. Depending on the composition of the household councils, residents may even collect money for emptying the pits in between, but it is not constantly done, and results are not produced? Every time it rains, these pits overflow. Since Metro and some other retail outlets are connected to the city sewer system, the logical question is: „Why aren’t these buildings also connected?“

Everything she mentioned, casually during a phone conversation, I found with dates ranging from 2009 to 2010 – 2021/22 in various online newspapers, portals, and local Facebook groups. Nothing has changed.

If people were being fined – if ten people a decade were fined, they should have learned to be orderly.

How can you teach them to be orderly when they see that various people get building permits by snapping their fingers. People will tell you: „If nobody punished him for building five instead of three floors, they won’t punish me for throwing the stove in the canal.“

If it came down to paying for sewer connection – people would probably agree to it, if eighty-year-old pensioners in Dorćol agreed to the introduction of central heating in their apartments. A man always wants better, just if someone offers it.

For each of the settlements on the other side of the Pančevo Bridge, questions could be asked indefinitely:

* For the marshes and the elderly population living in them because everyone who could has fled.

* For Ovča, where a source of exceptionally mineral water creates an artificial lake, in which mainly old and sick people bathe and smear mud, all next to a canal into which local animals take dirt from their stables.

* The old neglected Bip factory behind which stretches a settlement whose size shocked me, all in the midst of a swamp – who knows what they are filled with as in the vicinity are numerous supermarkets of various goods and warehouses.

* „Elite“ pool and spa complexes surrounded by clogged green canals

There are many such stories, but actually only one: the modern human’s need to live in a somewhat orderly environment is achieved through learning, informing, predicting, regulating at the legislative level, as well as through responsible behavior.