Three weeks after work began on the Mërtur River in Tropoja to build three mountain dams, diverting the river's flow, around 300 residents of the Nikaj-Mërtur region, along with environmental activists, protested against the Albanian Electric Power Corporation's project, which they say is being carried out without transparency. The residents say the project began without any prior consultation with them and without placing any information boards on the nature of the works.

Over the course of 3 weeks, excavators have eroded more than 1 km of the Mertur riverbed, leading environmentalists to raise the alarm that the construction of these dams in the riverbed risks the alienation and irreversible damage of its bed.

The Nikaj-Mërtur region has enjoyed the status of a Regional Natural Park since 2014, and as a precautionary measure to avoid clashes with residents, excavators were removed from the area. Residents are determined that they will not stop the protests until the project is canceled.