Mombasa City, the gem of Africa’s Coastline and the dream travel destination of many tourists worldwide, is not just facing the threat of ‘drowning’ over rising sea level.

The ground on which this Coastal city is sitting on is also swaying under the weight of unregulated boreholes and construction of high-rise buildings on the shoreline, which has led not only to the Island’s instability but to its impending collapse into the sea.

It is in view of the two developments — the first linked to the supernatural force of global climate change fast-tracked by human activity and the second fuelled by pure greed and negligence — that experts are now predicting a catastrophe for Mombasa.

The sinking of boreholes poses the additional risk of fostering the sipping of seawater, into fresh-water sources on the Island, while also weakening its soil structure. Unmonitored wells lead to contaminated water sources.

The new warning comes four days after scientists and researchers said Mombasa, Lamu and other Coastal Islands could disappear into the sea in about 50 years — by around 2062 — due to the rising of sea levels in the South and North Poles and Greenland which have the world’s largest glaciers.

Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) researcher and scientist in charge of sea-level monitoring, Dr Charles Magori said that owing to historical water shortage in Mombasa, there has been a surge in sinking boreholes to tap water for commercial use.

“Boreholes sunk close to each other in construction sites that are coming up in and around Mombasa Island could easily interfere with the stability of the ground, making it susceptible to erosion,’’ the expert warned.

There are a number of boreholes sunk within the larger Mombasa Municipality, reportedly through support of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and philanthropists.