23 Aug 2022

Remedial works are underway at Taung  village’s Monganakodu ward to reduce ground water seepage in the area.

The action insued from the emergence of ponds, which water bodies had raised concern among the residents, fearing that if not addressed promptly, the situation could cause major problems to their lives and property.

Malete Landboard had in 2013 requested an investigation from the Department of Geological Survey (DGS) to assess the cause of the seepage and suggest intervention measures.

Results and observation from the investigation showed that there was ponding in the area resulting from  surface run off during the rainy season.

Addressing a South East South Sub-district Council session Monday, chairperson, Ms Semakaleng Sebogodi said the council fire department and roads division had dug shallow wells at accessible designated areas to pump water into bowsers and dispose of it.

“An drain was also excavated on the western side of Bolux access road in order to intercept the heavy ground water that was observed after excavation of trial pits while trying to track the origins of the water.

There was a risk of open excavation, which needs to be addressed and the roads division is still discussing the issue with headquarters to acquire some funds to line the drain to make it a permanent storm water drain to collect water from A11 Road,” she said

Ms Sebogodi said the origins of the water was yet to be determined, but preliminary investigations showed that it came from underground with origins from the western side of the Taung Industrial Site access road.

She said gravel was also dumped on some areas in order to improve accessibility into the homesteads.

“42-metre underground pipes have been placed on access gates into private properties.

The water is being pumped into a bowser every day where the 450 metres drain ends.

The plan is to continue with the drain leading water away from the nearby properties.

There are some access crossings which still need to be done,” she added.

Again, she said the efforts had made significant reduction of water in the area, where 110 loads of 10 000 litres were bowsed to spoil by discharging water into Taung River.

That, she said, meant that 1.1 million litres  of water - and still counting - had been drawn away and daily site observations were done, with visible signs of improvement.

Ms Sebogodi said upon realising that the short term measures were costly and could not be sustained over a long period of time, the sub-district developed a contingency plan to respond to any disaster that might strike, given that the rainy season was approaching.

As a long term solution, Ms Sebogodi said the district had engaged the Department of Water and Sanitation to investigate and identify the source of seepage and come up with mitigations and recommendations.

She said the team started the works on July 1 and was expected to complete on August 31, after which an inception report would be produced.

Meanwhile, Ms Sebogodi said funding to the tune of P10 million had been disbursed to South East District Council under Constituency Community Projects to kick start the Magope/Disana water reticulation project.

She explained that the funds would be used to construct three kilometres of primary pipeline of size 250 to 400mm and five kilometres pipeline of 160 to 200mm within Magope/Disana area at a cost of P10 million.

She said the project would be implemented in partnership with Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) which would contribute over P1.89 million towards it.

“The project design is complete and the project will start after Water Utilities Corporation has sourced funding for the project.

Recently they indicated that the project costs might have escalated,” she added.

On land issues, Ms Sebogodi said consultation and assessment of property owners at Mojadife to pave way for village expansion was ongoing.

She said so far a total of 91 out of 200 hectares of land had been assessed, and to facilitate acquisition that would translate into allocation, Malete Land Board was considering conducting a geo-technical study on the whole of its area of jurisdiction.

That, she said, would assist in planning for future allocations or land use and that the ministry had agreed to fund the project. ENDS