Migori Residents Lament Over Pollution of Aroso Stream

Migori, Monday June 19, 2023

KNA by Michael Obuoyo and Elikana Ochuodho

In the Aroso area of Suna East constituency, Migori County is a stream that has been the residents' pride for decades. The locals say for the past 15 years, they have been using the water from this stream for domestic purposes including washing clothes, bathing and most importantly cooking and drinking.

However, in the recent years, the stream has been gravely polluted by uncaring residents who carelessly dump garbage and channel raw sewage into it. Residents bordering the water source have been the worst affected as they can no longer use its water for domestic chores.

They have been forced to depend on the expensive water supplied by the Migori Water and Sanitation Company (MIWASCO), which is quite unreliable throughout the year.

"The Aroso stream water enabled us live comfortably when it was clean and fit for human use. But today, it has become a health hazard and should never be taken raw," warned Mrs. Perris Ochieng, a resident neighboring the stream.

She said that currently, the locals are reading from a different script from the ones their parents knew about the fast dying stream. “Aroso water is no longer fresh, is no longer used for drinking and residents only use it to wash clothes,” she added.

The stream, Mrs. Ochieng regretted has been reverted into a dumping site by the tenants who live nearby besides being polluted by the sewage flowing freely from families and business premises within the estates through which the stream snakes into river Migori.

She said the sewage is illegally diverted into the stream at night by culprits who fear doing so openly to evade being apprehended by NEMA officials who are mandated to deal with environment polluters.

Mrs. Ochieng recounted how she recently went to draw some water from the stream only to find it had turned green and was filth smelling to her dismay.

“It was in the afternoon when I went to draw water from the stream, I was surprised when I found the colour of the water was green and it was smelling bad, yet I really needed water for my use that day,” she said adding when she examined the stream well, she saw heaps of used pampers, polythene bags, plastic bottles and even dogs’ carcasses and human wastes floating on the waters.

She now blames the landlords and landladies for encouraging the pollution by failing to provide proper garbage collection points for their tenants.

“The people owning rental houses along Aroso stream have highly contributed to the pollution of this stream because most houses lack proper garbage collection points. This leaves the tenants with no option but to dump their waste into the stream,” laments Ms Achieng.

Nyambate Stephen, another resident and leader of a community vigilant group explained that last week they surveyed the area and established that several homesteads and rental houses bordering the stream have sewer pipes running openly into the stream.

“We removed the pipes from the stream and warned them not to release sewage into the stream but it is like we were talking to stones. To date they are still releasing the sewage into the stream,” regrets Nyambate.

Apart from the tenants being directly involved in the massive pollution of the stream, Nyambate also blames area small scale farmers for carrying out farming activities on the banks of the stream. This he says loosen the soil which is eroded into the stream, leading to its slow death.

Some of the residents, he claims also wash their clothes near the banks of the stream and pour dirty water containing chemicals into it thus worsening the pollution.

“Residents are supposed to draw water from the stream and use it to wash their clothes at home as one of the ways of preventing water pollution in the stream. Some of them are not following the measures we had put in place to curb the pollution. You will find them still washing clothes near the stream and pouring the used water back into the stream,” regrets Nyambate.

Bernard Nyagwea, a tenant who has stayed in the area for over three years, reveals that it was after they pressured their landlord that he drilled a borehole for them.

In an exclusive interview with Kenya News Agency, Migori County Chief Officer for Environment, Natural Resources, Climate Change and Disaster Management Mr Chacha Mwikwabe, said they were aware of the conditions of the stream and measures were in place to protect it from becoming extinct.

Mr Chacha said they will liaise with the Department of Housing and planning and agree whether to sue the landlords whose tenants have turned the stream into a dumping site.

His office, he added would be working with other government agencies to ensure that all house owners who have encroached on the stream and are releasing untreated sewage into the stream are dealt with severely as they have breached the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) laws.

“We will ensure that all those who have encroached on the stream and are endangering the lives of the locals by channeling untreated sewage into the stream are relocated and sued in law courts for their evil acts,” said Mr Chacha.

The officer further explained that the County Government plans to collaborate with NEMA to launch awareness campaigns aimed at educating and engaging residents on the importance of keeping the streams clean.

Courtesy ; K. N. A