Residents in parts of Westcliff and Woodhurst may be without water for another two to three days after a major pipe burst near the Saiva Sithantha Sungum Hall on Sunday night.
Shivan Naidoo, a resident, said this was one of their worst fears when construction began recently. “It was only a matter of time that our taps run dry because of incompetence,” he said. “The whole street is flooded. What happens now? What about the elderly? There is always a burst pipe or a broken valve that leaves Chatsworth residents without water every other week.” Ward 70 councillor, Tony Govender, has since advised residents to save as much water as possible for the next few days as there was uncertainty surrounding the time period required for the repairs on the pipe. “Contractors have been working on this site for the past week in an effort to implement a new stormwater system which goes through and underneath the Sungum Hall. There could have been accidental damage done onto the pipe and over the course of the weekend, the pressure on the pipe may have caused it to burst.”
Govender said the burst pipe would affect many areas as it is a main trunk line. “We ask people to save some water to get by for the next few days as we do not know how long it will take for this main trunk line to get repaired. We have the superintendents and people from metro water who are assessing the damage and hopefully in two to three days’ time, the repairs should be done,” he said. Chairperson of the Saiva Sithantha Sungum Hall, Rickey Chetty, was thankful that minimal damage was caused within the hall and has faith in the municipality for a speedy repair. “Due to Covid-19 and the level restrictions imposed, we have not opened the hall. However, at about 10.30pm on Sunday night, I received panicked calls from the hall neighbours who informed me about the burst pipe. I thought that it was possibly a sewage pipe but I did not imagine the damage that I saw upon my arrival. The fences around the hall have completely collapsed and our carpark is now a pool of water. There is a lot of damage from the pressure of this burst pipe, however, if our municipal workers that are present on-site work as fast as they can, we can focus on repairing the rest of the damage,” Chetty said. By mid-morning, yesterday, work was still underway to stem the flow, to allow for the repairs to go ahead.
