HEAVY rains over the past few months have consistently flooded a portion of Sea Cow Lake Road.

Residents and the ratepayers’ association say the road floods due to clogged stormwater drains which are full of rubbish.

Last week, after heavy downpours over two days, motorists attempted to wade through the flooded section with some deciding against it and making a U-turn.

Also Read: Residents raise concerns over damaged stormwater drains in Glen Hills and Glen Anil

Anil Beekrum, chairperson of the Kenville/Sea Cow Lake Ratepayers’ Association, said the situation requires an overhaul of the entire stormwater system network on the road due to piles of rubbish flowing into the drains.

“Whenever it rains, this happens. It is probably over the last five years that the situation has worsened to the point where the road is impassable for smaller vehicles. The four-wheel drive vehicles also struggle and tend to navigate a route by driving up onto the pavement to avoid the flooded section. However, the last downpour actually saw the pavement covered in water, so motorists were avoiding it altogether.

“Our feeling is the municipality needs to do a complete clean-up of the stormwater system. There has even been an issue with the sewerage network with some businesses being submerged in wastewater due to blockages from litter and rubbish. In fact, some residents say they’ve seen street sweepers push dirt and rubbish into the stormwater drains, which is extremely worrying,” he said.

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Beekrum said residents have now begun avoiding this section of road until the water levels subside.

“All it takes is a little bit of rain, and we are back to square one. I also appeal to road users and pedestrians not to litter as this has made the situation much worse. We cannot continue like this, and we need urgent intervention from the eThekwini Municipality,” he said.