Sewage leak may cause driveway collapse, warns resident

RESIDENTS of Matheran Road have voiced their unhappiness over a longstanding sewage leak which has made their lives ‘unbearable’ for the past two and a half years. The leak has hit residents living at the bottom of the dead-end road the hardest with raw sewage flowing on the road and in one case, causing a partial collapse of a driveway.

Prince Nkwanyana said he fears he may not be able to access his house if the leak isn’t fixed soon.

“The problem started in 2017 when sewage began seeping into a natural stream which runs down Matheran Road. The sewage raised the water levels in the stream so much so that it flowed across my driveway. The constant stream began eroding my driveway to the point where a large chunk of my driveway began to collapse. With the heavy storms earlier this year the problem worsened so much so that using my driveway means putting me, my wife and two kids at risk due to it narrowing so much.

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“I don’t feel safe and even though I’ve been assured by the City the problem will be attended to, it never is. It’s very frustrating for me and the other residents because beside the driveway collapse, the situation is unsanitary and there are flies and mosquitoes breeding in the dirty water. I have no choice but to use the driveway to access my home, I can’t park my vehicle on the road,” he said.

Another resident, who lives across the road from Nkwanyana, Satish Rajnarain, said he too had complained to the City about the problem.

“The smell is overbearing in the evenings and early mornings due to the usage of the different homes in the area. More often than not, the stream level rises and flows across Prince’s driveway. None of us can leave any of our windows open because of the flies and overbearing smell. It is a massive health hazard and what is worse is this sewage is flowing into the Umhlangane River which eventually feeds into the uMngeni River. We feel the residents of Matheran Road are being sidelined when it comes to the repair of this leak and we cannot go on like this,” Rajnarain said.

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Ryan Moses who lives never next door to Nkwanyana attested to the potential collapse of a the driveway after his vehicle fell into the massive crater left by the sewage leak.

“I run a business from my home and don’t have a driveway to access my home. I sometimes use Prince’s driveway and last week the residents of Matheran Road had to help me push my vehicle out of the ditch because part of the driveway had collapsed under my rear wheel. We are all concerned that with heavier rains this problem could worsen,” Moses said.

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