• Rainy season expected this month.
• Unclogging of drainages will ensure water that drains into Nairobi River is clean.
Nairobi county is racing against time to clear blocked sewer lines and stormwater drainage systems ahead of the rainy season expected anytime this month.
Environment executive Vesca Kangogo and her Roads counterpart Hitan Majevda said 70 per cent of the clogged drainage canals in flood hotspots have been cleared.
Kangogo spoke during an inspection tour of the ongoing works in Embakasi West and Makadara subcounties.
The executive said most of the sewer lines are blocked by human activity including dumping in inappropriate places.
“We are in the process of opening clogged drainages and our engineering team both in the roads and environment teams are working together to ensure all our drainages are open," Kangogo said.
“From what we have seen, most of our drainages are blocked by waste.”
The executives appealed to members of the public and business community to dump appropriately.
Majevda said blocking of sewers is caused by residents.
Kangogo said the county intends to ensure the exercise goes on continuously in all subcounties, not only for the preparation for the coming wet season but also to ensure the water that drains into Nairobi River is clean.
“Let the disposal areas designated by the county be the actual place where we dispose our waste. It is important for you(residents)to ensure garbage collectors dispose of the garbage in Dandora dumpsite,” she said.
Kangogo said the county will, together with other government agencies like Nema and the Water Resources Authority, restore the image of Nairobi as a "friendly place where we can live, invest and give our children and generations to come a better place”.
The CEC said a joint task force from the national and county government has done a good job of mapping out areas where there is deliberate discharge of raw waste into Nairobi River.
The executive said stern measures will be taken against any private or public institutions that discharge raw waste.
“We have clearly mapped out and issued notices and in the next 30 or 60 days you will see many businesses close down because we will not continue watching the wanton destruction of our environment," Kangogo said.
“Let us adhere to the right mode of disposing our waste. It is unfair to have a business environment where we declare profits and yet behind the scenes, we are destroying the environment and not caring about people."