City must unblock sewers, drains

Scenes of flooding on the streets of Joburg which dominated the media yesterday will have many talking about “extreme weather events” related to “climate change”.

There may or may not be truth in that, but the real reason we saw so many places flooded is a lot more prosaic – but worrying nonetheless. Our storm water drainage systems are being overwhelmed in downpours which are far from catastrophic because, in many cases, sewers and drains are blocked. And they’re blocked because they haven’t been cleaned properly.

In other cases, the storm water removal systems are not up to the task of a normal summer thunderstorm, never mind an out-of-the ordinary deluge. To be fair, the fact that so much of the city – and cities around the country – has been built up, with much more concrete, brick and tar than natural vegetation, means the water flowing away has little to slow it down. That is why watercourses burst their banks more often these days.

However, it is critical that our storm water planning and maintenance take account of not only the current reality, but also of any possible future increase in rain because of climate change. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

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