Bagre, Tono Dams Spillage May Hamper Food Security

Mr Williams Adum, Kassena- Nankana East Municipal Chief Executive has said the spillage of the Tono and Bagre dams could threaten food security in parts of Northern, Upper East, and Upper West Regions.

He said most farms along the White and Black Volta rivers had been submerged as a result of the spillage.

Mr Adum made this known when he paid a working visit to the affected farms in the company of officials from the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO).

The team visited communities such as Kolgo, Gaani, Biu and Tono to access the level of the water spilled from the Tono dam and the potential damage it may cause to farmers and residents along the water way at Tono near Navrongo in the Kasena- Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region.

Mr Adum noted that, the level of water currently been spilled from both dams were very alarming as NADMO officials had indicated that about 96,000 gallons of water per-second was been discharged from the Bagre dam while that of the Tono could not be estimated.

He called on residents near the river banks to move to higher grounds to avoid being washed away by the flood.

He urged government and non-governmental organizations as well as philanthropists to support the victims as most people were already displaced in some areas of the municipality.

Mr Sebastian Bagna, acting Manager of the Irrigation Company of Upper East Region (ICOUR) disclosed that, about 500 to 600 acres of farm lands had been submerged.

Mr  Bagna said the spill from the Bagre dam begun about a week ago and has since been flowing at a level of 1.3 meters, adding that, the type of spillage experienced this year can be compared to that of the spillage of 1999 and 2007.

Mr Jerry Asamani, Upper East Regional Director of NADMO assured of government’s commitment to provide support for the affected victims..

He said NADMO was highly on the alert to avert any disaster and urged the residents to remain calm and report any mishap to the authorities.

The MCE and the NADMO officials later visited about 919 flood victims to ascertain the impact of the spillage, and later presented some relief items, including quantities of blankets, buckets, insecticide treated nets, mattresses, rice and cooking oil, among others, to some of the victims.

Mr Abu Ramadan, Deputy Director General in charge of Operations at NADMO accompanied the team on the inspection.

Source: GNA