Sewages have always been an eyesore. Their putrid smell makes one to instantly hold their breath. If you have encountered one, you would not want to go back anywhere near it. If you have not, then you would probably need an air purifier to protect your breathing system if you have to go near one.
Residents of Githurai 45 off the Nairobi-Thika highway know this only too well.
On Sunday morning, they woke up to a nauseating stench wafting from a dirty grey sludge that was flowing right into their houses.
Two days later, they are still living with the spectre of waterborne diseases, besides having their daily activities disrupted.
A night downpour in Nairobi on Monday worsened the situation, as more water made its way into their houses.
A whole estate is now flooded with raw-sewage water that the residents do not know how to drain.
Foodstuffs destroyed
They blame the mess on a sewer line inspection chamber that collapsed and the recent construction of a murram road near their houses.
“The lorries that were ferrying road construction material tampered with the sewer line inspection chamber, making it shrink and blocking sewage from flowing into a nearby river,” said Ms Josephine Kathure, a resident of Kiuu ward in Githurai 45.
Ms Kathure explained that, to avert cases people falling into the sewer line inspection chamber, which had been left open, the residents closed it with stones.
That further worsened the situation, as the resultant blockage meant there was no way to drain the sewage water into the river. The sewage water continued rising, overflowing to their houses.
“Our foodstuffs have been destroyed,” Ms Kathure lamented.
The residents have unsuccessfully been trying to unblock the drainage system.
Water-logged houses
School-going children have to be ferried to school by their parents. Those that can walk on their own have to gingerly step on the rocks to get to their water-logged houses.
“We have a storey building nearby where our children now spend most of their days on people’s verandas because they cannot play in the dirty water,” says Ms Kathure.
Their landlord, she says, cannot solve the problem because it affects close to 20 gated households.
“No one has come to our rescue yet. We are on our own,” Ms Kathure says.
As of Tuesday evening, well-wishers were still trying to remove the rocks that had blocked the drainage system.
But by the time of filing this report, their efforts were yet to bear fruit.