The course of Morava River will not be artificially changed because of new highway

The Zapadna (Western) Morava's riverbed will not have to be moved because of the Morava Corridor, Telegraf Biznis has learned.

The spatial plan for the future Morava Corridor will not require the river to be "straightened" because of the highway's route. The only works that will be done on the river are embankments along its banks, our interlocutors told us.

"No relocation of Morava is planned. There is no displacement of the river mentioned anywhere," we have been told by the CIP Institute of Transportation.

Some media reported earlier that the highway, according to the said draft spatial plan, would "relocate" the Morava River. The corridor would reportedly not cross Zapadna Morava and would go past the villages of Sirce and Grdica. And as the media wrote, along that stretch, at about four or five locations, Morava's riverbed would be "corrected" - at the villages of Sirce, Oplanic, Grdica and Adran.

However, according to what we've learned, the road there also has a flood protection function and the works will done on embankments.

Due to frequent floods, the river has changed its course and meandered there.

"This is about arranging the Morava and its tributaries so that no more flooding occurs. So, only embankments will be done," Telegraf Biznis has been told.

THE MORAVA CORRIDOR

Last month, Serbia adopted the Law on Establishing Public Interest and Special Procedures to Implement the Construction of the Infrastructure Corridor of the E-761 Highway, section Pojate-Preljina, better known as the Morava Corridor.

Completion is expected in 2.5 years, and to realize the project, a loan of "800 million euros from foreign investment corporations and funds" will be needed.

Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic earlier signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation on the construction of this corridor with the US company Bechtel - but during a parliamentary debate indicated that there was no contract yet in place with any company, and that the government of Serbia would instead form a commission and only then identify the partner.

The Morava Corridor, about 110 kilometers long, will connect half a million people along a stretch that has about 20,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.

During the parliamentary debate at the time, Mihajlovic said that the Morava Corridor was one of the major highways when it came to the country's economic development and that the 110-kilometer-long Pojate-Preljina section would connect citizens of central Serbia.

She said the reason for proposing a special law is that Serbia "has no time to wait" as it has been building highways for many years.

The Morava Corridor will connect all major towns in the area: Cicevac, Stalac, Krusevac, Trstenik, Vrnjacka Banja, Kraljevo, Cacak.

The corridor will provide a direct link between Corridors 10 and 11, i.e., there will be a better internal connection between the western and southwestern parts of Serbia with the southern and southeastern ones, and with Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

(Telegraf Biznis)