Report says Mmamabula planning area lies on earthquake line

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Wednesday November 17, 2010 00:00

This constitutes constraints to future physical developments in the area, a draft final development plan for Mmamabula warns.

It says that until a comprehensive micro-seismic investigation is complete, designs of any development scheme in the entire planning area must take cognisance of the seismic risk.

The report warns that there is a known seismically active fault (zoetfontain) in the planning area and that all future developments should have adequate foundation footings.

The draft development plan for the coal mining town says that the low lying areas adjacent to the banks of the main drainage channels in the planning area are prone to periodic flooding. This is a constraint to physical developments in those areas. As such, developments should be precluded from the flood plain areas.

The report says the water quality in the majority of boreholes in the planning area including Tuli farms is poorer than the maximum allowable drinking water standards of Botswana and the World Health Organisation (WHO). 'This is based on available hydrochemistry information, mainly due to high concentrations of calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride and selenium and total dissolved solids (TDS).'

The report says that since water in the planning area is a scarce resource, rural communities, whenever possible, use the poor quality water for domestic purposes and for livestock. 'It should also be pointed out that groundwater resources in the planning area are also susceptible to contamination on account of the prevalence of pit toilets in the planning area.'

Meanwhile the presence of burrow pits in the area is also seen as a constraint to development. 'These limit the use of those areas for physical developments, save if they are properly rehabilitated as required by the law and this comes at a cost. This might be a reason for their non-rehabilitation by contractors,' the report says.

The report warns that there will be loss of agricultural and grazing land in the planning area, as the mining activities will involve above ground activities and develop infrastructure that will utilise 1,700 hectares of land.

This will result in permanent or temporary loss of agricultural and communal grazing resource base for user groups.