A large amount of garbage, estimated at between 4,000 and 5,000 cubic meters – the equivalent volume of two Olympic swimming pools – invaded the dam of a hydroelectric power station on the Drina river in eastern Bosnia.

One of Bosnia's five major rivers, the Drina, which is 346 km long and forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, is regularly polluted by the illegal dumps that arise along its banks.

"This is only the consequence of irresponsible behavior of the villages along the river, upstream from the Visegrad hydroelectric power plant," said Tomislav Popovic, technical director of the plant.

"These places do not care about the flora and fauna of the Drina and the fact that they are generating a great ecological problem," he added.

The trash that accumulates in the river is normally stopped by anti-pollution barriers, which are located upstream of the power plants, and then collected.

But during high water, these barriers break under a large quantity of garbage that then invades the area in front of the dam of the power station.

"We can't solve this problem, we repair it, we pick up the garbage that the municipalities leave on the banks. We have even seen images of bulldozers pushing garbage right into the river," Popovic said.

He added that this problem will continue to get worse if it is not addressed soon: "On average, we collect about 8,000 cubic meters of waste every year, which we then transport to landfill sites."

Video editor: Natalia Luz