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the face of an unbearable stench caused by a crumbling sewerage
system, Colombo 7 residents meet the Mayor The reason? The 100-year-old sewer lines of Colombo city are in a bad way. Residents of Rosmead Place and Wijerama Mawatha in particular have had to put up with an unbearable stench where in some places, sewage floods into the manholes and these overflow on to the road as well as into private premises. One resident at Rosmead Place said they have suffered with a terrible stench for over a year. Particularly when there is a shower of rain, there is an unbearable smell from their drains. "It was so bad we couldn't even have a meal at times," she said. Another resident at Rosmead Place said that sewage comes up when she flushes her toilet downstairs. It happens mainly during rainy weather. Unable to use her toilet for days, she is compelled to go to her daughter's flat upstairs. Another resident at Wijerama/ Rosmead Place junction said sewage gets into their manholes and with a shower it overflows. Even when the manholes are cleaned, in a short while, they fill up again. One resident said that in the vicinity of the Welikada Prison, the manhole on the road was overflowing and sewage was all over the road. "When I drive that way, I have to wash my car tyres when I get home," she said. Although they notified various departments in the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), they were not told the reason for the stench, she added. Finally as a last resort, the residents complained to the Mayor who volunteered to meet them and explain the position to them personally. Last Monday the Mayor and the relevant officials of the CMC, met residents from the affected area. The Mayor explained that the area has the original city sewers built over a hundred years ago. He said the need to overhaul the sewerage system in the city had been recognized for a long time, but it was a vast exercise. "With the help of the government, we have got the assistance of the Asian Development Bank for a study on developing the institutions that handle the sewers. But this programme is scheduled to begin only in 2007," the Mayor said. When the main National Hospital sewer at Norris Canal Road/ Regent Street, collapsed 1 ½ years ago, something had to be done urgently. The stench was unbearable and doctors were up in arms, threatening to stop work. The Mayor said they were compelled to divert the sewage to the storm water drains to alleviate the immediate crisis. This was the cause of the stench in the area. "Although the sewers come under the National Water Supply & Drainage Board, I cannot disclaim responsibility," he said. "With strong co-operation from the government, we were able to secure funding for this priority work of rehabilitating the hospital and Ward Place sewers." The Danish funded project is due to commence in February 2005. "It is not acceptable for you and not proper for us to tell you to wait until then," the Mayor said. "During these months, we will do our best to make it less unbearable. I will discuss it with my officers and find a way." Mr.A.G. Irshadh from the CMC who oversees this area, said that due to the urgency of the situation the CMC had started work on the collapsed area, using Rs. 5 million of their own funds. Now, the manholes have been concreted and left for curing. In between three manholes, the damaged sewer lines will be relaid. The work on this area, will be completed by the end of September and the sewage will no longer be diverted to the drains. With this the problems suffered by the residents of Rosmead Place, Ward Place, Kynsey Road, Kynsey Place, Barnes Place, Wijerama Mawatha and part of Horton Place should be resolved. One of the residents of Rosmead Place, who had made the initial complaint to the Mayor and arranged the meeting, said they were grateful to the Mayor for taking the trouble to come and see them to explain the situation. Thereafter, she said a meeting was held with the CMC engineers, the Chief Medical Officer of the CMC and a group of residents to further ease the problems till the repair work is completed. "We had a very good meeting. The CMC have agreed to clean the junction sewer manholes three times a week so that they do not get overfull.” Health hazards caused by contaminated water were also discussed. Another meeting was fixed for October 5 to review the situation. In the meantime, the Mayor said e-mail complaints to the department would receive immediate attention. This
is the way the sewage goes However, he said Rs. 90 million per year is insufficient for the sewerage maintenance work. The CMC budget for the current year is Rs. 430 million. This includes the rehabilitation of two major sewerage lines, one running through Boyd Place, W.A. Ramanayake Mawatha, Darley Road, Panchikawatte, Sangaraja Mawatha, Prince of Wales up to Madampitiya and the other through Austin Place, Kynsey Road, Ward Place, Norris Canal Road, Vipulasena Mawatha, connecting at Darley Road. In addition the CMC has started on a project in 5 stages, to provide sewers to Kirulapona, which was not connected to the sewerage system. Stage 1 of this project is to lay 7 kilometres of sewerage lines at a cost of Rs. 120 million. Thalakotuwa, Edmonton Road, Siddhartha Path and Lane, Temple Road, and part of High Level Road will benefit by this stage, which will be completed next year. In another project at Mattakkuliya, the sewerage lines have already been laid. One pumping station is almost complete and another is to be constructed. When the first pumping station at Ferguson Road, is completed, residences of St. Mary's Lane, Ferguson Road, Farm Road, Rodrigo Place, part of Centre Road, Kelaniganga Mill Road, and part of Vystwyke Road will have sewerage connections. |
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