Lotus Park water shortage enters third week
Many setbacks have been encountered, preventing a speedy resolution to the Lotus Park water woes.
THREE weeks on, Lotus Park, Orient Hills and Ezimbokodweni still have no water after a main pipe burst caused by residents of the Malukazi Informal Settlement who built houses over it.
The settlement’s residents made the situation worse by initially preventing eThekwini Municipality workers from repairing the pipe as they demanded proper houses to be built for them. The 300mm pipe ruptured for the sixth time in two years on August 20, in Lotus Park, flooding the nearby informal settlement in the middle of the night.
After a truce was reached, Ward 90 councillor Shad Nowbuth said repairs to the pipe started, but the excavator working at the site became stuck in the mud, setting back the repair work. In the meantime, the affected communities have been relying on portable water from tankers.
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“While one team is working to free the excavator, the other team is digging to expose the damaged pipeline so new replacement water pipes can be laid. The digging teams have been sourced from the local community,” said Nowbuth.
He added that eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has been approached to find a solution to the matter.
“The relevant departments need to act with urgency to resolve the water problem which is now becoming unacceptable,” said Nowbuth.
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