Blocked ravine blamed for highway flooding

Senior Reporter

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The intense rainfall which led to flash flooding along the east-bound lane of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway (CRH) near the Coca-Cola factory yesterday, has been blamed on the indiscriminate dumping of garbage by a homeless man living on the embankment of a ravine.

Home-owners and business operators in the Tunapuna district were inundated by water levels estimated to be more than three feet following a heavy downpour between 8 am and 11 am.

Guardian Media meteorologist Kalain Hosein confirmed that between 50 mm to 75 mm of rainfall was recorded during the three-hour period.

The flooded section of the highway led to a major traffic gridlock and residents of Curepe, Pasea, Monte Grande, St Augustine, Macoya and Tunapuna sought alternative routes as minor roads were inundated with mud, slush, debris, and in some places, water which contained raw sewaage.

Blaming the flooding on the blocked ravine mouth near the Coca Cola factory, Curepe/Pasea councillor J-Lynn Roopnarine said numerous efforts had been made by the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT), the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and the Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation (TPRC) to clear it but to no avail.

Pointing to the stagnant water as she visited the area and reassured burgesses something would be done to alleviate their woes, she told Guardian Media that for the past week and a half, people had been complaining of the issue because it was occurring every time there was a steady downpour. She said people north of the CRH as far away as Prescott Lane, Tunapuna, had been adversely affected.

Asked what was causing the ravine to back up every time it rains, Roopnarine explained, “The issue here is something that we do not know as yet. They can’t get to the bottom of the issue because of the fact that the water level is too high.”

Estimating the depth of the area where the blockage is at between six and seven feet, she said MOWT workers had attempted to get to the root of the problem by entering the ravine from the opposite side but were unable to as it was “too dark.”

“I don’t know if it’s debris, a mattress, a tree trunk but whatever it is, it is blocking the watercourse right under the crossing,” she claimed.

Roopnarine expressed hope that with the use of a heavy-duty water pump, officials can get the stagnant water out and be able to access the ravine to determine what was creating the blockage. She said the MOWT, WASA and the TPRC were monitoring the issue.

Affected resident Chaitram Samaroo of Bhagoo Trace, Pasea, Tunapuna, whose property was flooded out, appealed to the authorities to clean the ravine, which runs alongside his home.

This is the first time the 59-year-old has been adversely affected and he believes if prior appeals to clear the waterway were heeded, yesterday’s flooding could have been averted.

Producing text messages, pictures and even emails that were forwarded to numerous agencies, as well as Roopnarine, since November 2023, in which the presence of the homeless man was highlighted, Samaroo said, “Last week, I went personally to the MOWT in San Juan to lodge a complaint.”

Like Samaroo, several other residents near the ravine complained that the homeless man was dumping garbage, clothes and other items in the waterway.

He said, “He collects all the garbage in the neighbourhood, salvages it and then dumps it in the ravine here. A couple months now the garbage got lodged under the highway.”

Samaroo said the storeroom at the back of his property was completely flooded out yesterday. Among his losses were electrical tools, clothes and other family collectibles.

Samaroo said he placed sandbags at all the access points to the family’s living quarters, and would explore other options to keep floodwaters out if the blocked ravine was not cleared soon.

Pressed on whether the homeless man was to blame, Roopnarine said, “I have heard the complaints about the homeless individual but I honestly can’t confirm that he is the root cause for the blockage. It’s unlikely that one person contributed to the volume of debris and rubbish.”

Roopnarine added, “I’ve also asked the residents to contact me when they see him. I too, would have passed twice last week and even today (yesterday) to see if he was in the area. Once he is found, I will try to get some assistance to see how best we can have this issue addressed as well.”