Cattle invade Wanpu Dam in Bimbilla

About 100 cattle have invaded the Wanpu Dam which sometimes serves as a source of drinking water for the residents of Bimbilla in the Northern Region.

According to an eyewitness, Mr Atta Abdul-Gafaru, the situation had persisted for some weeks now but got to a head last Thursday.

Mr Abdul-Gafaru indicated that the cattle did not belong to indigenes of Bimbilla due to the numbers that were trooping to the area.

"Considering the numbers, those cattle do not belong to the indigenes of Bimbilla. When I tried approaching the herdsmen who brought the cattle, they all ran away leaving the cattle, but later came for them secretly," he said.

Threat

A resident and a youth advocate of Bimbilla, Mr Basit Mohammed Yussif, said the cattle invasion of the dam posed health threats to the people of Bimbilla.

According to him, the cattle muddied the water while urinating and defecating in the water, making it unsafe for domestic use.

He added that though the water was polluted by the cattle, a significant number of residents depended on the dam as their only source of water for drinking and other domestic purposes, since that was the only dam in the area.

"The Wanpu Dam is the only dam in the area, and, as a result of that, some residents are now competing with the animals for the water. And it is worth noting that with the level of pollution going on in the water, the water, when drunk, can lead to sickness," Mr Yussif said.

Mr Yussif appealed to duty bearers to act by finding a solution to the situation to avoid further pollution of the dam.

"We are calling on our leaders and duty bearers to urgently save the situation, otherwise if this continues, we the youth of the area will take the matter into our hands," he stated.

When contacted, the Nanumba North Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Abdulai Yaquob, stated that because the Wanpu Dam was the only dam in the area, all animals in and around the Bimbilla town were all drinking from it.

According to him, there was a small dam which was dedicated solely to the animals to drink from, but was, however, muddied by fishermen from the Bimbilla community, making the water to dry out.

"Some of the cattle belong to the indigenes and at first, we dedicated a small dam by the Wanpu Dam for the animals to drink from. But some community people said they wanted to do fishing there. So, they muddied the water, pushing the herdsmen to take the animals to the Wanpu Dam," the MCE stated.

Intervention

The MCE, however, stated that some security personnel were deployed to the place to ensure that they prevented more cattle from further invading the dam while the situation was investigated.

He added that he was going to engage the traditional and community leaders to find a solution to the incident.