No borehole drilling without mandatory licence, Lagos warns operators

*Licensing, permit regime for borehole drillers to ensure safe water consumption, protect groundwater, engender environmental sustainability ─ LSWRC Chief

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Alluding to the need for the industry operators to adhere to extant security measures and ensure safe potable water for consumers in residential buildings and apartments, the Lagos State Government has alerted the operators in the borehole drilling industry to the risks in performing their activities without requisite licence and permit from the state government.

Mrs. Funke Adepoju, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LSWRC), in a statement said that activities of the industry operators violated the Environmental Protection and Management Law 2017 penalties and offences.

According to the state government, any erring borehole drilling practitioners without mandatory licence and permit will be sanctioned henceforth.

The warning, it was gathered, came on the heels of enforcement carried out by the LSWRC in some construction sites in the Ikoyi axis of Lagos State where boreholes were drilled specifically in a block of 36-flats without licence and permits besides non-adherence to safety measures.

Adepoju, however, disclosed that as a proactive government, the present administration had commenced full enforcement of the licensing and permitting regime for borehole drillers to ensure safe water consumption by residents, protect groundwater and engender environmental sustainability.

According to her, the enforcement as a regulatory provision is part of the control measures by the state government to prevent unregulated drilling of boreholes in the state.

The Lagos State Harmonised Environmental Protection and Management Law (2017) empowers the LSWRC to regulate the production, distribution, abstraction, consumption, supply and use of water as well as quality of service, she noted.

She stated that it would amount to breaching the law for any borehole driller and owner (drill to use) to operate without licence and permit from the Commission.

The LSWRC Executive Secretary said: “The LSWRC has the mandate to ensure that operators in the industry comply with standards. If you have to drill, we have the responsibility to ensure that water available is safe for consumption.

“In view of the high impact between hygienic water and health, government will not allow quacks take over the industry.

“The danger in allowing such in terms of health of residents and environmental sustainability can better be imagined than experienced and so the drillers need a licence to operate in line with our regulatory provisions.

She noted that the geological formation of Lagos is sedimentary, and caution is the word in view of the activities of borehole drillers in the state.

“With the importance of groundwater, government is poised to protect it from pollution, contamination of water bodies, unregulated drilling, saline filtration, environmental degradation, among others,” said Adepoju.