In the town of Aksu in Pavlodar Region, residents of four apartment buildings are facing a utility crisis: basements are regularly flooded with sewage, a pungent smell fills the stairwells, and rats and midges have appeared in the buildings, the website infohub.kz reports.
All four buildings were commissioned about four years ago. The apartments went to people who had spent years on the housing waiting list: people with disabilities, large families and orphans. But according to the new residents, the utility problems began almost immediately after they moved in.
"Our basement is constantly full of water, and there's a terrible stench in the stairwell everywhere you go. Especially on the lower floors. It even reaches the upper ones. And rats are already running around the stairwell," complains Mariya Pirogova, a resident of Aksu.
It is impossible to go down into the basement — everything is flooded with feces, and a strong, distinctive smell hangs in the stairwells. According to residents, the building is not connected to the central sewer system. Wastewater is pumped into a special well using a pump that sometimes breaks down. As a result, the sewage overflowed the tank and flooded the basement.
"The sewer outlet — everything comes to us, because our building stands lower. Now because of this smell midges have appeared, rats have appeared, I don't know what else. Please, help us. Allocate us some money, build us wells, separate outlets, so we can live in these buildings like everyone else. People with disabilities waited decades for this housing," says Almagul Alguzhinova, a resident of Aksu.
Utility workers, however, say the residents themselves are to blame, flushing solid waste and hygiene products down their toilets. They add that the well is pumped out regularly.
"Reconstructing the pumping station is the only way out. As for the basement flooding, the cause lies with the water utility. For our part, we do inspections, submit requests and pump out the basements," explains Ainura Kenesova, head of Domkomkhoz LLP.
"The reason the sewer system was not connected directly is that the sewage collectors are far away. The water level in the building does not meet the requirements. That is why they installed a sewage system in these four buildings. A separate project needs to be developed. It has been included in the administrative program for next year," stresses Kumar Ibrayev, director of the Su Arnasy municipal utility.
It is unknown when the project will be ready or whether budget funds will be allocated for it. What is clear is that the building's networks were designed incorrectly from the start. Besides the foul smell, residents complain of leaking ceilings, drafts between the floor slabs and ants.
It was reported earlier that in Karaganda, the basement of a building in a new residential complex is being flooded with sewage. The sewer system cannot cope with the load, and residents complain of a pungent smell.