THE KAIKORAI VALLEY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23084, 9 January 1937, Page 17

THE KAIKORAI VALLEY

TO THE EDITOR Sir,—lt Is a widely known fact that Dunedin ranks as one of the most beautiful and clean cities in New Zealand, but how many of the residents of this city have taken the time to stroll down the lower Kaikorai Valley road? If they did they would marvel that the residents of that district are able to survive at all, so nauseating is the smell that pervades the air. During the cessation of business activities over the Christmas and New Year period the writer took a walk along that road, and the condition of a field adjoining the Roslyn Mills is certainly enough to raise the ire of any normal right-thinking person. Mounds of foul-smelling, filthy material practically, if not absolutely, uncovered, are allowed to lie there and pollute the atmosphere. One wonders what the health authorities are thinking about in allowing such a state of affairs to exist within the bounds of the city. Even to one walking past the odour is almost unbearable. The authorities are seeking a cure for the epidemic which is at present sweeping the city. They are also looking outside the town for the cause of the outbreak. In my opinion, if they took steps to have this debris removed and thus destroy a perfect haven of germs, it would do much to alleviate the position. If there is a case of diphtheria in a home the first action of the inspectors is to examine drains, sinks, and the like, and yet in the present-case they have done nothing to remove or prevent the deposit of further filth in this locality. Why is not the deposit of such debris prohibited?

It has been learned by the writer also that the Kaikorai Stream is the outlet for the refuse from the dye filters of the mill. This stream also gives off an almost unbearable odour. It is remarkable to me that the residents of that part of the Kaikorai Valley have not been “up in arms” and agitating for the discontinuance of the practice that has been carried on for some time past. In any case, it is high time the Health Authorities woke up and did something in the matter and thereby safeguard the health of the nearby residents. —I am, etc., A Caversham Resident.

[The action of the Board of Health in requisitioning the Green Island Borough Council to inaugurate the drainage scheme, which is now nearing completion, will remedy any nuisance caused by the Kaikorai Stream. Incidentally, it may be remarked that, owing to the copious rainfall this summer, the stream has not been as obnoxious as in many previous seasons. It should be understood that infantile paralysis, which is not “ sweeping the city” in the sense our correspondent employs, is not deemed to be associated with defects of sanitation or with filthy conditions, as typhoid and some other diseases are. The Health Department is very commendably leaving nothing to chance, and is alive to the possibilities of danger arising from any nuisance. While caution and care are necessary, unreasonable and disproportionate fear ’is to be deprecated. It Is impossible to allay the panic in the minds of a small proportion of the people, and when it is urged that all congregations of people should be prohibited, common sense suggests that personal judgment must be exercised in that matter. —Ed. 0.D.T.l