CHOKED DRAINS CAUSES SPILLAGE OF WASTE WATER ON KANESHIE-ODORKOR ROAD

THE blockage of drains on the Kaneshie-Odokor-Malam stretch, largely due to the irresponsible disposal of waste into them has resulted in a heavy spillage of waste water onto the outer lanes of the road.

The underground drains stretching between the Darkuman junction and the Odorkor traffic light had been clogged with silt, hence, forcing the running water to gush out from the various silt-traps chambers onto the dual carriage.

To compound to problem, an unpleasant stench emanated from the spilled water, a situation which exposed motorists and pedestrians to lung-related ailments and other discomforts.

The problem has been identified as a root cause to the perennial flooding of the area.

The problem

The dual carriage has an in-built single cell pipe culvert of 1.2 meters.

It consists of chambers constructed at every 30-50 meters to serve as entry points for smaller drains usually connected from homes, offices, and other sources.

As part of mechanisms to wean the facility of silt, gulley traps was installed at marginal intervals to sieve the intake of water from the smaller drains into the bigger ones.

However, the gulley traps had failed to achieve results because of the heavy passage of silts usually after rainfall which puts a lot of pressure on them.

Work ongoing

When Eddies Dailies visited the area last Thursday, it was observed that construction work was ongoing to desilt the drains and to allow for free flow of water.

Five men, who were busily engaged in the exercise under the scorching sun, had desilted heaps of sand onto the boarders of the road.

The heap comprised of waste materials such as plastics, car tyres, bags, shoes, metal plates, among others.

As three men jumped into the stinking drain with their noses and hands uncovered to dig the piled waste, the remaining two fetched the blockages with a bucket tied with a robe and disposed it meters away from the spot.

Commuters and motorist were not spared of the stench that emanated from the piled silt, forcing some of them to block their noses as they passed by.

The project

In an interview, the Municipal Roads Engineer at the Ablekuma North Municipal Assembly, Mr Kwaku Tsegah indicated that the Departments of Urban Roads awarded the project to Hamza Construction Limited a month ago at an unspecified amount.

He was, however, quick to reveal that the entire exercise which covered about 2 kilometres would cost not less than Ghc 200,000.

As at the time of the visit, about 500 meters out of the total stretch of 2km had been disilted.

Heavy waste

Mr Tsegah expressed shock at the level of waste disposed into the drains and called for attitudinal change on the part of residents in the area to curb the menace.

“I was surprised when I saw materials such as disposed fridges in the drains. Our attitude towards sanitation is very bad and poses a serious threat to our lives,”

“Initially, we had wanted to engage the Fire Service to blow it up with their machines. However, the heap was so thick that we had to resort to manual labour,” he stated in the interview.

In separate interviews, some residents in the area expressed delight about the exercise and appealed to authorities to accelerate processes towards its completion to curb the spillage of waste water onto the road.

Sanitation court

For his part, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Ablekuma North Municipal Assembly, Mr Kofi Ofori stated that the assembly had initiated steps towards the establishment of sanitation court to punish sanitation offences.

The move, he said, would help to instill the culture of cleanliness into residents of the area and deter them from irresponsible disposal of waste.