• The National Environment Management Authority will on Monday start demolishing illegal structures in Nairobi's riparian areas.
• Many Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company sewer lines are blocked and dysfunctional - others are broken and dilapidated.
Decades of neglect have rendered the cleaning of the Nairobi River a horrendous task.
A Water Resource Authority team entrusted with ensuring that the river regains its lost glory on Thursday found that waste from several apartments was being discharged into the once pristine water way.
Some landlords have erected walls and toilets on river banks.
The team also established that many Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company sewer lines are blocked and dysfunctional. Others are broken and dilapidated.
The Authority is delegated, on behalf of the National Government, to safeguard the right to clean water. It's work entails ensuring that there is proper regulation of the management and use of water resources now and in the future.
Meanwhile, the National Environment Management Authority will on Monday start demolishing illegal structures within Nairobi riparian areas and the owners arrested and prosecuted.
Nema acting DG Mamo Mamo told the Star by phone that bulldozers from Nairobi Metropolitan Services will be used to pull down the illegal structures.
The Environmental Management and Coordination Act says that those found guilty of polluting the environment with hazardous waste will pay a minimum Sh1 million in fines or serve jail terms of not less than two years, or both.
The law also allows for the forfeiture of vehicles and equipment used in these illegal activities.
Nairobi River snakes from the Ondiri swamp in Kikuyu through the Michuki Memorial Park named after John Michuki, the no-nonsense Kibaki administration Environment minister, and onwards to informal settlements where foetuses and bodies of adults are often found floating.
The water way was a few decades ago sparkling clean and populated with fish, water beetles, dragon flies and other fresh water creatures.
Today, it is technically dead. It no longer supports life, except for insects that feed on dirt.
Many attempts had been made to clean it before Michuki took the bull by the horns and had it cleaned.
His successors at the ministry were not as enthusiastic to ensure the river's cleanliness.
On Thursday, the WRA team identified several pollution points down river from the International Livestock Research Institute and Riruta bridge.
This was not the first time the pollution points were being identified.
On July 26, Nema stumbled on concealed pipes draining waste in Nairobi River even as it warned polluters of prosecution.
Mamo said they had come across the pipes during the cleaning of the river.
“There will be no compromise at all on those polluting the river. We want to have it clean in the next 90 days,” he said but was non-committal on the number of structures set to be demolished.
"It is work in progress," he said.
The authority has flagged 148 polluters.
"We will arrest and prosecute all the polluters," he said, adding that “the blocked sewers have been brought to the attention of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company for them to be fixed.”
The war on polluters follows a directive given to Nema by Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko on July 20.
"We are starting a 90-day crackdown today; Nema will be spearheading the crackdown from here (Michuki Memorial Park ) all the way up to the source of the river at Ondiri swamp. We will also be dealing with Nairobi River tributaries,” Tobiko said during the clean-up of the river.
“The crackdown is going to be sustained, aggressive and merciless,” the CS said as he outlined the action plan to be operationalised in 90 days.
Tobiko said the government is determined to clean the river. Already, the Michuki Memorial Park section of the river is clean.
“The river is becoming clean. You can see the level of cleanliness on the stretch between the National Museums of Kenya bridge and the Globe Roundabout. The water is as clean as tap water," he said.
Tobiko regretted that the sewer infrastructure along the river course is in a shambles.
However, his ministry, the Nairobi Metropolitan Services and the ministries of Water and Housing are fixing trunk and sewer lines in the informal settlements under a World Bank-funded programme.
To walk the talk, officials from Nema arrested a landlord for directing waste from his rental houses to the Nairobi River July 24.
The landlord is alleged to have been discharging waste into the Kirichwa Kubwa River in Dagoretti.
Nema has also unearthed cases of illegal connection of sewer lines. Mamo said it is with the discretion of a magistrate to apply the polluter pays principle.
The principle is the commonly accepted practice that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment.
A factory that produces potentially poisonous chemicals in some of its activities is held responsible by authorities for safe disposal.
The move is part of broader principles aimed at addressing sustainable development.
Mamo said all factories without effluent treatment plants will also face the music.
"Those without effluent treatment plants will be closed," Mamo said.
He said the authority is armed with a detailed geo-referencing map showing property owners and action taken in previous crackdowns.
"We know the type of waste each facility is discharging into the river," Mamo said.
A few weeks ago, two bodies of infants were retrieved from the river in Korogocho by members of Komb Green Solutions.
This brought to 21 the number of bodies retrieved from the river in the informal settlement since the launch of the Nairobi River Restoration Project last year.
Komb Green Solutions is made up of 70 youths based in Korogocho.
It was founded two years ago to clean their section of Nairobi River.
- mwaniki fm