For eight months, residents of Colonia Emiliano Zapata, in downtown Puerto Vallarta, have suffered from a sewage leak, or what authorities say is a drainage leak, that permeates the air. The heat and rain in some nearby apartments make the problem worse with the overpowering smell.
"The smell is unbearable, a smell of drainage, they were supposed to fix it, but there is a quagmire of sewage that is going to dry up and that dust is going to fall on people, on food, and everything that can be found," commented Eduardo, a resident of the area.
Despite multiple reports of the leak, located on Calle Insurgentes on the corner of Francisco I. Madero, the municipal authorities have done nothing to repair it, so neighbors have chosen to put lime on it to try to mitigate the problem.
"We are in the center of Vallarta, it gives a bad image to tourists, but there is no response from the City Council or from the port's Potable Water and Sewage Services.
The smell affects not only the residents but also the tourists who pass by there or go to the restaurants and businesses in the area.
Residents of the street assured that the problem arose when an apartment tower was built where there used to be a cinema. Although several studies have already been carried out, the arrangements to solve the problem and prevent the leak of sewage from continuing haven't been met.
Meanwhile, the neighborhood residents and tourists who cross the area are forced to live with the smell of sewage in the streets, even worse in the afternoons as the sun bakes the sewage into the street, and the city does nothing.
It is worth mentioning that The Potable Water, Drainage and Sewerage System of Puerto Vallarta (SEAPAL-VALLARTA), has insisted the leak isn't sewage but a clog in the water runoff that is a result of the reconstruction of the Cuale River bridge earlier this year. The clogged pipe the reference runs along Insurgentes and dumps runoff into the Cuale River.
Runoff is drained into creeks, bays, and other water sources after a storm. Stormwater runoff includes all debris, chemicals, and other pollutants picked up by the rain, this includes human and animal waste.
Whatever the cause, the small is bad for residents and tourists, and eight months without a repair shows the problem is not a priority.
