FOLLOWING numerous incidents of burst municipal water pipes in Howard Road, Ashley, a family is living in fear as their house is getting damaged.
Owner of the property, Jennifer Naidu, said she has photos of all the damages and has sent numerous emails to the municipality.
ALSO READ: Despite complaints, municipality does not repair sewerage pipe
In Naidu’s backyard, there is a huge sinkhole which has resulted in the boundary and security fence collapsing.
“If the bank is not reinforced, the sinkhole filled and the ground compacted, the wall is going to collapse,” she said
Naidu said they have experienced flooding to their property about five times now.
“The first flooding was in 2012 and that resulted in us losing one of our furbabies, I am not prepared to go through that ordeal again,” said a concerned Naidu.
“This year, we have experienced flooding three times. When water flows for five to 10 hours constantly, what happens to the structure of the property? The rainy season has started, who will be responsible for all the damage as the municipality is not coming to the party?” asked Naidu.
Naidu told the Highway Mail that water pipes run on the property verges. “These pipes are 300mm main water pipes apparently conveying water from one reservoir to the other. These pipes are very old and often give way at the weakest points.
“When the pipe burst occurs, the water gushes into our property causing vast damage within the house and well as to the external areas of the property. The water flows at this rate for hours before being isolated,” explained Naidu.
She added that these occurrences are becoming more frequent. “This year it started in August, October and just recently we were subjected to this trauma.”
The Highway Mail sent questions to the municipality and has not received a response by the time of going to print.
However, Naidu reported that a municipal official came to inspect their house and promised to investigate.
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.
Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.
