NAN-AE-12
Punishment
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, July 24, 2017 (NAN) The President, Nigerian Association of Hydro-geologists, Mr Charles Olumese, on Monday called for severe punishment for those involved in indiscriminate drilling of boreholes across the country.
Olumese told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that it was saddening to note that the perpetrators of this act failed to understand the consequences of their activities on the environment.
He said that if deliberate polices were not put in place to address this challenge, there would be depletion of the country’s aquifer, salt intrusion and water quality degradation.
He said that no fewer than 60 per cent of Nigerians depended solely on groundwater as their source of water supply.
Olumese, therefore, called on the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to provide a solid foundation for the implementation of the code of practice for the construction of water wells.
He noted that contaminated drinking water was a major contributor to the high infant mortality rate in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
“The need for proper and effective regulation of groundwater abstraction is of utmost importance.
“The public needs to be educated on this; presently, some progress has been made in the development of the framework for water use regulations by the ministry.
“It is, however, important for the authorities to enact stiffer penalties to punish those found culpable of this practice,’’ he said.
Besides, Olumese said that the construction of boreholes indiscriminately was capable of causing earth tremor, adding that haphazard exploitation of underground water was linked to this geographical phenomenon.
He also said that if the water of one borehole was contaminated, it could contaminate the water of other boreholes within the area, thereby having devastating effects on the wellbeing of people in the neighbourhood.
He commended the Federal Government’s efforts to increase the citizens’ access to public water supply, adding, however, that deliberate budgetary provisions should be made to boost water supply to the citizenry.
He called on the National Institute of Water Resources (NIWR), Kaduna, to begin the implementation of the Drilling Code of Practice for borehole drillers, so as to regulate the sector and protect the environment.
He bemoaned the lack of the necessary synergy between key stakeholders and the tiers of government in the nation’s water resources management.
He, however, advised the state and local governments to carry the Federal Ministry of Water Resources along in all their activities pertaining to the water sector.
He also called for a partnership with multilateral organisations to promote effective data gathering in the event of any pollution, adding that the capacity of the NIWR to carry out its statutory functions should also be strengthened. (NAN)
TAK/MOL/OOK
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi and Dayo Komolafe