Great Bačka Canal (
Serbian: /; hu, Ferenc-csatorna) is a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
which runs from
Bezdan
Bezdan ( sr-cyr, Бездан; hu, Bezdán, hr, Bezdan, german: Besdan) is a village located in Bačka, Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated in the Sombor municipality, West Bačka District. The village has a Hungarian ethnic majority and its po ...
(on the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
) to
Bečej
Bečej ( sr-cyrl, Бечеј, ; hu, Óbecse, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 23,895, while the municipality has 37,351 inhabitants. I ...
(on the
Tisa). The canal is long and part of the
Danube-Tisa-Danube Canal system. The excavation works of Great Bačka Canal began in 1794 and went on until 1801 in
Bács-Bodrog County,
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
. The
bed
A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax.
Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...
of the canal is wide and wide at the top. The average depth is . The water of the canal is very polluted because it runs through industrial towns, such as
Vrbas,
Kula and
Crvenka
Crvenka () is a small town located in the municipality of Kula in the West Bačka District, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a Serbian ethnic majority, and it had a population of 9,001 in 2011.
Name
In Serbian, th ...
.
The canal not only is too small for navigation, but is also dangerous to bathe in due to the long-lasting pollution problem. The ministry of protection of environment of Serbia included it in the list of the country's "three black points".
The pollution of the canal began in the second half of the 20th century. 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 among 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
Notes
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Backa Canal
Geography of Vojvodina
Canals in Serbia
Bačka
Canals opened in 1801
1801 establishments in Europe