Karlovac water supply dispute sparks political tension

Political tensions have escalated in Karlovac following calls by Most party representative Zvonimir Troskot to declare a state of emergency due to ongoing water supply issues, including turbidity and frequent malfunctions. Troskot has requested that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Medved intervene to address the crisis.

The HDZ-led councilors' club has criticized Troskot, accusing him of “political scavenging” and using citizen concerns for political gain rather than allowing technical services to resolve the issues. They emphasized that serious work is being done on the ground by water and sewage services and engineers.

Regarding the infrastructure, officials noted that while 56 kilometers of water pipes have been reconstructed through the Karlovac-Duga Resa Agglomeration project, approximately 45 kilometers of cast iron pipes remain in the network. About 42 kilometers of these pipes are over 50 years old, with some sections dating back to 1913 and 1915. The estimated cost for replacing these critical sections is approximately 13.5 million euros, with planning for the most problematic areas scheduled for next year.