The Blantyre City Council (BCC) has expressed concern over never-ending cases of vandalism in the commercial city.
Mayor of the city Wild Ndipo raised the concern when he was speaking on Wednesday at a mayor’s corporate dinner.
The mayor noted that in the city there is vandalism which has led to the worsening of the conditions of some rivers.
He said sewage from companies and residential areas flows into the Mudi River due to vandalized pipes which carries the waste matter to their respective places.
“A very good example is the Mudi trunk sewer that runs along both Nasolo and Mudi Rivers. Unfortunately, sewage is flowing into Mudi River because people vandalized the pipes. Apart from that, the sewage system is very old.
“Some sections of the network were constructed in the early sixties. Most of the pipes are worn out causing sewage to leak out and allowing entry of soil into the system. With time the soil accumulates,” said Ndipo.
He further said that Blantyre City is served by five Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) namely Soche, Blantyre, Limbe, Chirimba and Maone. However, due to vandalism only two waste water treatment plants, Soche and Blantyre, are currently partially working.
As a long term solution, Ndipo said the council requires about MK7 Billion out of which MK2 Billion is for the Mudi Trunk Sewer and Blantyre Wastewater Treatment.
The council assessed both Nasolo and Mudi Rivers and identified critical sewage spillage point sources, solid waste dumping sites and general environmentally degraded sections that require financial assistance for river cleaning as a short term solution of restoring the environment.
From the assessment, the council intends to rehabilitate the vandalized pipe bridge sewer lines, construct solid waste transfer stations and develop stream/water parks along the rivers which will require MK459 million out of which MK46 million is for rehabilitation of pipe bridge sewer lines crossing Mudi and Nasolo rivers.
The council has since asked companies and individuals to support it financially or adopt a mile along the sections of the rivers.
