Snow causes state of natural disaster in several eastern municipalities

The Civil Protection Administration said Monday that parts of the municipality encountered the electricity and water supply cuts, while the local roads remain blocked.

According to the Hydrometeorology Institute of Republika Srpska, which covers this area, average snow cover in this municipality exceeds one metre.

The Municipality of Kladanj, north of Sarajevo, is also struggling with difficulties caused by snow, which mostly affected the surrounding villages.

Chief of the Municipal Civil Protection Administration Zijad Saric said their services manage to clean the roads to the remote villages but that new snowfalls are worsening the situation.

The snowdrifts at some points reach the height of two metres.

Although the situation is under control, the state of natural disaster in this municipality is still effective.

The situation is similar in the Municipality of Pale in Bosnia's Federation (FBiH) entity.

According to a municipal official Munir Radaca, the snow is blocking several villages with some residents who are in need of medical intervention.

The regional roads towards the town of Gorazde and the capital of Sarajevo are open but the traffic is slow, he added.

The snow which has been falling for days also cut access to the villages of Srebrenica municipality.

Srebrenica Municipality Head's Assistant for Civil Protection Affairs Hasudin Mustafic said they are keeping the situation under control and so far there was no need for urgent interventions.

“In case of emergency, the Civil Protection will act in accordance with its abilities,” he added.