Vizelj

Vizelj
Визељ
Kayaking on the Vizelj
Country Serbia
Physical characteristics
Main source north of Padinska Skela, Serbia
River mouth Danube, at Krnjača, Serbia
44°50′02″N 20°28′13″E / 44.833917°N 20.470393°E / 44.833917; 20.470393Coordinates: 44°50′02″N 20°28′13″E / 44.833917°N 20.470393°E / 44.833917; 20.470393
Length 31 km (19 mi)
Basin features
Progression Danube→ Black Sea

The Vizelj (Serbian: Визељ) is a short channeled river in north-central Serbia, the left tributary to the Danube. During its entire flow it runs through the suburban section of Belgrade, on the territory of municipality of Palilula.

Course and geography

Swans on the Vizelj

Vizelj originates north of Padinska Skela, in the central part of the Pančevački Rit, a former marshland in the southwestern corner of the Banat region. The course of the river is in the north-to-south direction and is generally full of curves and meanders. It flows through Padinska Skela and Kovilovo, before it is being crossed by the Northern Tangent, in wider sense, a northern part of the Belgrade bypass. From there, meandering in the east-west direction, it flows on the west border of the urbanized area of Borča (neighborhoods of Mali Zbeg, Nova Borča and Stara Borča). After exiting Borča, it receives the western section of the channeled streams of Mokri Sebeš from the left and Veliki Kanal from the right side, crosses the embankment which protects the inland from the Danube and turns to the southeast. Flowing on the southern border of the neighborhood of Kotež, it empties into the Danube at its 1,168.5 km (726.1 mi). It forms the entire eastern border of the ada of Kožara, and that entire section is projected as the future much larger Čaplja island. The final 2 km (1.2 mi) of Vizelj are also known as the Jojkićev Dunavac, named after the former mayor of Belgrade Đurica Jojkić, as during his tenure that section was channel and widened in an effort to quicken the drainage of the Pančevački Rit. Weekend settlement Mika Alas is located at the very confluence of the Vizelj.[1][2][3][4]

The length of the Vizelj, due to the channeling and artificial connections with the surrounding channels, has been reported as either 27 km (17 mi) or 31 km (19 mi). The average width of the stream is 50 m (160 ft) and is 1.5 to 2 m (4 ft 11 in to 6 ft 7 in) deep.[5] During the normal and high water levels, smaller vessels can enter the channel, but during the low waters it is inaccessible.[4] However, it is used for kayaking since 1972, when the first kayak club in Borča was founded.[6]

Human history

Vizelj Park, in the vicinity of the river

Initial works on the river were done in the 18th century, during the reign of the empress Maria Theresa, as the area was ruled by Austria at the time. In the early 1960s, with the digging of the Jojkićev Dunavac, the stream was extended and got its present form. As the area became rapidly urbanized after the World War II, which was not followed by the adequate communal infrastructure, the Vizelj got more and more polluted. It was partially cleaned in 2009. In 2012 sisters Nikolina Moldovan and Olivera Moldovan, who practiced on the Vizelj, petitioned to the mayor Dragan Đilas to do something about the worsening conditions of the river as it is important for the national sport. City decided to financially support the cleaning, though that is not administratively under the city jurisdiction. In August–September 2012 the stream was dredged, cleaned and the vegetation was cut.[5] Yearly kayaking regattas have been organized since then. In 2014 the channel was cleaned again but by May 2015 it was again covered in vegetation and turned into the morass.[7] The river was cleaned during the summer of 2015.[8] Since then, locals and members of the kayaк clubs organized and regularly clean the stream, including the cleaning of the banks in April 2017.[6][9]

In April 2014, during the repair of the waste water collector, toxic substances were poured into the river which caused a massive fish kill.[10] In August 2014, the agricultural company PKB apparently discharged large amounts of ammonia into the Vizelj which nearly killed the entire fish population.[11][12] Despite the pollution, the river is popular among the fishermen, but the recreational fishing is forbidden on the course of 600 m (2,000 ft), between river's 3rd and 4th kilometer.[13]

In the autumn of 2010 a flock of 30 swans landed on the Vizelj and have been coming every years since then, and the number of swans doubled. They became a local attraction.[8][6] However, the area was plagued by the avian influenza in January 2017, which killed almost 40 swans.[14]

Vizelj is name of the PKB's pig farm. Also, a new stadium of the FK BSK Borča, built in the vicinity of the river in 2009, is named Vizelj Park.

References

  1. ↑ Beograd - plan i vodič. Geokarta. 1999. ISBN 86-459-0006-8.
  2. ↑ Beograd - plan grada. M@gic M@p. 2006. ISBN 86-83501-53-1.
  3. ↑ Turističko područje Beograda. Geokarta. 2007. ISBN 86-459-0099-8.
  4. 1 2 "Ono što znamo i ne znamo o Dunavu" (in Serbian). Plovidba info. 20 August 2009.
  5. 1 2 Nikola Belić (21 August 2012), "Kanal VIzelj će biti kajakaška oaza", Politika (in Serbian)
  6. 1 2 3 Č.L. (26 March 2016). "Neverovatna slika u Borči: Zabeleo se kanal" (in Serbian). Blic.
  7. ↑ Marija Kosanović (31 May 2015). "Očajni uslovi u kojima treniraju kajakaši iz Borče" (in Serbian). Blic.
  8. 1 2 "Oaza mira i prirode koju su svi zaboravili" (in Serbian). Koreni. 1 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Uređenje obale kanala Vizelj u Borči" (in Serbian). Zelena lista Srbije. 22 April 2017.
  10. ↑ M.Lj.Ppopović (21 April 2014). "Pomor ribe u borčanskom kanalu Vizelj" (in Serbian). Večernje Novosti.
  11. ↑ M. Jovićević (4 August 2014). "Mrtve ribe ponovo plutaju po Vizelju" (in Serbian). Blic.
  12. ↑ Marija Kosanović (5 August 2014). "Borčanci jeli otrovanu ribu?!" (in Serbian). Blic.
  13. ↑ "Fishery area "Belgrade"". Srbijašume. 2016.
  14. ↑ Ana Ristović (27 January 2017). "Od ptičjeg gripa uginulo 39 labudova". Blic.
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