A sewer system blockage in Trenance Park, Verulam, has left residents crying for help after being trapped with the foul odour for a number of years.
Blockages along the pipeline have affected different areas causing the stench to travel throughout the community. Some residents said that they cannot enjoy sitting outside their homes as the odour is unbearable. Shushie Ramjass, a resident for over 10 years, said over the past three years the smell from the blocked sewer has made her life very uncomfortable and a living hell. “I dread having visitors. At times the smell is so bad that it’s like waking up with a sewer in the bedroom. When there’s a breeze the stench fills the house. No matter how hot it is I cannot open the windows.” Ramjass said five months ago the municipality fixed the pipe, however, when she woke up the next day the sewage was flowing in her yard.
“When the sewer line is blocked and starts to overflow sewage flows into my yard. I am unemployed and a widow but I still had to find some money to hire a plumber to fix the pipes in my yard.” She said once, due to a block in the sewage line, there was a heavy back-flow which came into her toilet and shower. “It was horrifying. We rushed to break the pipes outside so the sewage doesn’t flow into the house.” A stone-throw away from Ramjass is another blockage plaguing the community. Tashnee Maharaj who lives a few meters away from the blockage said the smell is so bad that they hardly ever stay outside. “This has been a problem for years but ever since October, last year, it has worsened. We constantly phone the municipality to repair it and they sometimes tell us they don’t have the money to repair it.”
Maharaj said the cover of the sewage pipe has been pushed open due to the blockage and the smell travels across the neighborhood. “The stench is totally unbearable. The children, my mother and I get sick very often. We constantly need to see a doctor and that isn’t cheap. We have respiratory problems and the children throw up so often.” She said because her house is situated so close to the sewer line all her doors and windows need to remain shut and she constantly needs to have incense sticks burning to camouflage the smell. Chairperson of the Trenance Park Community Policing Sub-Forum (CPSF), Belinda Francis said, “Due to the fact that there is no civic association in our area, members of the community contacted the CPSF for assistance. Councillor Majola said he was made aware of the situation and is looking into it. However, this problem has been a constant problem for over three years with no permanent solution. It is appalling that people have to live with this for years.” Municipal spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said the clogging of manholes is a much deeper problem that involves residents changing their behaviour. He said over 70% of manholes that are clogging are as a result of alien objects disposed in our systems and this incident is no exception.
“We attend to such leaks on numerous occasions and as soon as we turn our backs we go back to square one. We are therefore appealing to residents to refrain from using newspapers in their toilets, put a stop to the disposal of items such as tampons, condoms, diapers, and oil to our system. These are all the things that our teams are always retrieving in the event they attend to clogged manholes. The community itself must do their part or this will continue to be a moving target for the City. A team was sent to investigate and will attend to the all sewer blockages reported.” Ward 59 Councillor, Bongani Majola, said he was only made aware of the problem last week. “I didn’t know about this problem. It is unacceptable for people to live that way. I will be working with municipal officials to rectify this problem.”
