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Originally published by Kenyanstop
February 19, 2026
3d ago
Expert Warns Over-Drilling of Boreholes Could Collapse Nairobi Buildings

This year alone Nairobi has seen three buildings collapse, killing and injuring scores of people, with experts saying over 80 per cent of buildings are not safe...
✨ Key Highlights
Unregulated and excessive borehole drilling in Nairobi is creating underground voids, significantly increasing the risk of building collapses, warns hydrogeologist Dr Florence Jerotich Tanui. This practice, driven by persistent water shortages, is depleting aquifers and destabilizing the city's brittle volcanic rock foundations.
- 75 percent of buildings across Kenya are structurally unsafe, as revealed by the Institution of Engineers of Kenya in April 2023.
- Dr Florence Jerotich Tanui, a Programme Officer for Science (Water Division) at the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, linked increasing building collapses to groundwater over-extraction.
- Borehole drilling depths in Nairobi have dramatically increased from 50 metres in the 1980s to 380-420 metres today, indicating severe aquifer depletion.
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