What a stink in Sea Cow Lake
The Northglen News and Maharajh visited the station in Sea Cow Lake on Friday, where raw sewage was seen floating in the river and strong stench was present.
THE Johanna Road sewage pump, that seemingly hasn’t been in operation for the past two weeks, has still not been repaired and raw sewage continues to spill into the uMngeni River; reported the ward 34 councillor, Bobby Maharajh.
The reason for the pump not functioning was attributed to copper cable theft from the Johanna Road Informal Settlement.
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“Copper cable theft is common in the Johanna Road Informal Settlement and, although the eThekwini Municipality had made some attempts to fix the pump, they have all gone in vain as the community poses a threat to the technicians that are sent out. When the City sent out technicians to repair the fault, they were shot at. It is a very dangerous situation. I have not been made aware of any other plans to repair the pump from the City’s part,” he said.
The Northglen News and Maharajh visited the station in Sea Cow Lake on Friday, where raw sewage was seen floating in the river and strong stench was present.
“It was much worse when the spill started a few weeks ago. I assume that, due to the rain, some of the waste matter was flushed out,” he said.
“This is not something new. The problem has been ongoing for about a year now, but this time it has worsened. The concern is that people are still paddling and fishing in the uMngeni River.
It’s a health hazard as there have been reports of people becoming ill. Who knows what diseases this could bring,” he said.
He also stated that sporting events that take place on the river could be compromised if the sewage spill was not contained, and the pump not fixed soon.
He added that another sewage spill, also in the Seacow Lake area had affected businesses last week.
“Sewerage spills are taking over the city and most of them lead into the uMngeni River.
The only logical thing to do, in my opinion, is to relocate the pump station to another area. If it’s repaired now, it will only be a matter of time until electricity is illegally connected again and the pump breaks down,” said Maharajh.
The eThekwini Municipality failed to comment before print deadline.
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