At exactly 6:49 AM on Friday August 31, 2018, authorities at SONABEL, the power utility company of Burkina Faso, spilled the Bagre Dam after water level of the dam hit the spillage mark of 235 meters.
Deputy Coordinator in charge of operations in at the Upper East Regional office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Paul Wooma, who confirmed this in an interview with A1 NEWS said depending on the rainfall patterns in Burkina Faso, the impact of the spillage in Ghana could noticed within 72 hours.
According to him, his outfit and its collaborators have already intensified public education on possible havoc the spillage could cause. He warned residents and farmers along the banks of the White and Red Volta rivers to relocate to high grounds. He also cautioned farmers to avoid flood-prone areas because the pressure that may as a result of the spillage could overwhelm them.
The Bagre Dam was constructed in 1992 over the White Volta River in the village of Bagre.
Spillage of the dam has since become a perennial problem leaving many communities along the White Volta River especially in Northern and Upper East Regions of Ghana flooded for weeks. This has often occurred between August and September thus leading to loss of human lives, livestock and crops.
Early August this year, SONABLE issued statement notifying Ghanaian authorities that the dam could be spilled between 23rd and 30th August. Aside the alert statement, SONABEL gave Ghanaian authorities in the Upper East Region, daily updates until the dam was spilled on Friday.
Source:A1Radioonline.com|101.1FM|Ghana
