Underground leak raises concerns

A MAJOR water leak in Stephen Dlamini Road appears to have the city baffled. That's according to local resident and chairman of Woodburty, Robin Whittal.

Whittal said he had read an article in Berea Mail about the leak under the road which was detected by another resident John Biggs who had subsequently alerted the municipality.

Whittal said it was months before the city took any action. In April this year, after an article appeared in Berea Mail, the municipality sent out a team to attend to the problem. However, he said a few days later the water could be heard gushing underground again.

“The problem was not attended to properly, and appears to be getting worse,” he said, adding that a team of workers had arrived last week and dug up the road looking for the leak. He said they had cordoned the hole off with danger tape and then disappeared. He said he had last seen any workers at the site on Thursday, and by Tuesday this week, they had still not returned to work and the water was still running.

“The water now appears to be running from the street into the stormwater drain which it wasn't doing prior to the repair work in April,” he said.

“I’m concerned as the leak seems to be far into the road, and I’m worried the water will undermine the road and a sink hole will develop, similar to the one that developed at the corner of Stephen Dlamini and St Thomas’ Roads. Something should’ve been done to fix this problem long before people complained about it. The water has been gushing under the road for nearly a year. The municipality wants to increase water tariffs, but allows these problems to persist. The amount of water being lost here is scary, and the sound of the running water is awful in light of the drought we’re experiencing,” he said.

Whitall said the municipality attended to a burst water main in the road, closer to King Dinuzulu (Berea) Road last week as well. “I feel this is all linked to the underground leak. I hope the municipality will find a permanent solution to this problem,” he said.

Despite numerous attempts to get comment from the municipality on the matter, no feedback was forthcoming at time of going to press.