The Water Resources Management Authority – WARMA has cautioned the general public against acts of drilling boreholes in places reserved for burying the dead and that the legal minimum distance should be observed.
The Authority has received concerns from some members of the public indicating that some residents of Ndola are drilling boreholes at their newly acquired housing plots offered to them by unscrupulous people near Kawama and Mitengo cemeteries, respectively.
WARMA Public Relations Officer – Joshua Kapila has confirmed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that some of the unsuspecting residents have even built houses in spaces reserved for burying the dead.
He said the Authority has since warned the public that pursuant to the Statutory Instrument (SI) 20 of 2018 (on Ground Water and Borehole Regulations) of the Water Resources Management (WRM) Act No.21 of 2011, the minimum distance between a borehole and a cemetery must be 500 meters.
Kapila added that drilling of boreholes for domestic use within areas reserved for burying the dead is hazardous to human health due to the high risk of contamination of groundwater that may result from leachates from the graves.
WARMA’s main purpose is to serve as the regulatory body for the management and development of water resources in the whole country and ensure equal access of water for various stakeholders.
