River pollution still an ongoing issue in Durban

OOZING foam and multi-coloured water in local rivers is a sure indication they are being polluted somewhere along their course. Residents complain daily, but relief is in sight.

In the last few weeks, incidents of pollution have been reported on many occasions in the Umbilo and Palmiet rivers.

One of the residents who reported the matter to the Highway Mail said he has seen Umbilo River polluted about 15 times in the past six months, since he moved into Mariannhill Drive.

ALSO READ: Attempts to clean river go down the drain

“This river has changed into almost every colour,” said Hilton Botha.

Botha said he hopes that the origin of this ongoing pollution can be traced and if it is the companies that are disposing chemicals onto the river, they need to be held accountable and fined, as the animals are killed because of their actions.

The Palmiet River Watch champion, Lee D’Eathe, said while ongoing river water pollution has triggered countrywide concern, long stretches of the Palmiet River are seriously contaminated and totally devoid of living creatures due directly to river water contamination by the more than 100 recurring river water pollution events registered with the authorities annually.

ALSO READ: New Palmiet River Valley Conservancy tackles pollution

Lee reported that coming from the Pinetown and New Germany Industrial areas, green, yellow, then dark grey or black and foaming pollution events are recorded as they travel downstream through the heart of the Palmiet Nature Reserve, through Shepstone Place below the cliffs at Westville University, and on through Quarry Road to Blue Lagoon estuary into the mangroves and the Indian Ocean.

However, the river champion announced there could be relief since a competent service provider, GroundTruth, has been appointed to start rehabilitation through the conservation and restoration of the natural systems within the Palmiet Catchment. This is a pilot project within the overarching National Umgeni Ecological Infrastructure implementation project.

“Given space to gather local community support and solutions, GroundTruth will be able to initiate sustainable results while recognising that unsustainable solutions should not be adopted by them.

“All-round relief will only come once the root causes are addressed, freeing the officials on the ground of the impossible task of sorting and addressing some 2 000 city-wide complaints day-in and day-out. They are stretched to the limit on this treadmill of recurring blockages and spills,” said Lee.

He suggested every land owner, resident and worker within the Palmiet Catchment has a vested interest and should contribute with their ideas and actively contribute toward realising continual, meaningful, significant reduction in environmental degradation and sustainable and measurable improvement of water quality and stream health, ensuring those violating national and municipal by-laws are being dealt with effectively.

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