Every day and night around the clock for the past year, groups of women from the Bosnian mountain village of Kruica have taken turns guarding a local bridge. The looming threat on the other side is a construction site where a hydroelectric dam is meant to be built.

Scared that they will be left without water when the river they live alongside is diverted away, the villagers want to make sure that not a single crane or truck crosses their path. Tahira Tibold, the president of Kruica council, also said that 2,000 local people would have to be permanently relocated if the dam went ahead. Last month, the blockade forced construction workers to retreat a year after riot police used violence to temporarily clear the women from the area.

We are fighting for the water, which belongs to all of us, Tibold told HuffPost. The will of the local community must prevail against private interests. We have been on the bridge 24/7 since August last year and we will not give up until we have won.