Bagre Dam Spillage: Over 700 displaced in North Gonja

Over 750 residents from nine communities in the North Gonja District of the Savannah Region have been displaced as a result of the spillage of the Bagre Dam.

Some of the victims have been moved to the Wasipe Senior High School while others are seeking shelter with family members.

Since the spillage of the Bagre Dam in August this year, several communities along the White and Black Volta have recorded cases of flooding.

The situation has affected both human and economic activities.

So far, 10 deaths have been recorded in the North East and Upper East regions with several properties including farmlands totally submerged in water.

The recent district to be affected is the North Gonja District.

Several communities and farmlands have been affected.

A visit to the area by the Savannah Regional Coordinating Council and officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) saw many households submerged in the floods.

Some of the victims were moved to the Wasipe Senior High School while others were sheltering with family members.

The Daboya-Mankarigu Road, which is under construction, has also been taken over by water, cutting off over 9 communities.

The District Chief Executive for North Gonja District, Adam Eliasu, said this is the worse situation the District has ever recorded in terms of disaster.

He noted that the last time the District recorded such a disaster was in 2007 but the effect was not as severe as that of 2020.

“The Assembly together with NADMO has been able to move some of the victims to safety at the Wasipe Senior High School while others are with their family members who are not affected.”

He called for more support for the affected victims.

The Savannah Regional Director of NADMO, Mohammed Tahiru, indicated some relief items have been dispatched to the District for distribution to the victims.

For his part, Savannah Regional Minister Adam Salifu Braimah called for attitudinal change.

He admonished the residents to always adhere to the directives to move upland anytime NADMO directs to save such situations.

“Even though the situation is unfortunate, I think our people must also change their attitudes to settle on higher grounds away from the river banks.”

He later distributed some relief items made up of mattresses, buckets, used clothings, blankets, boxes of mosquito coils among other things to the victims.