Aller River Project faces tough realities head-on
One of the manholes was punctured by a shack resident who was fed-up with the raw sewage which frequently flooded his doorstep.
PHASE 2 of the Aller River Pilot Project (ARPP) has seen a continuation of the relationship with the Clermont community and key municipal departments, but now needs to tackle the hard issues affecting river health.
The aim of the Aller River project is to restore the condition of the rivers across the eThekwini Municipality.The project team has recognised that issues will arise that will be hard to solve.
“This realisation prompted meetings with heads of department and directors of Durban Solid Waste and eThekwini Water Services.
Since those meetings, the ARPP team has had a number of follow-up interactions in November with relevant area roleplayers and top of the list of problems are contamination from sewer infrastructure, and many forms of litter and illegal dumping,” said project manager, Nick Swan.
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During November, the eco-champs took the eThekwini Waste Water Network Area acting superintendent, Lindani Thusi, to two manhole spillage hotspots.
The first spillage is in manhole 3A6, Indunduma, Clermont, where a shack resident was fed-up with the raw sewage which frequently flooded his doorstep.
Repair teams identified the blockage materials as sand, stone and ‘towels’.
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The second hot-spot is about 400 metres upstream of the 3A6 manhole.
Swan said these issues are not easy to solve and are complicated further by the challenges of having to deal with cable thieves who destroy manholes by using them as work benches and the increase in illegal dumping.
“So while the project is sound, is participative and has been well accepted by both the authorities and the residents, it is now ‘hitting’ the hard, intractable issues, which requires engagement with the complex root causes of poor river health.”
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