Move away from flood-prone areas; NADMO advises residents

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has advised people living in flood-prone areas to relocate to safer places to protect lives and properties with the onset of the rains.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, the Deputy Director-General of NADMO in charge of Technical, Mr Seji Saji, said during the rainy season, it was always advisable for people living in low-lying areas and on water courses to relocate to safety.

He, however, said the dredging of storm drains and the de-silting of gutters were ongoing, adding that NADMO officials were also on the ground assisting victims of floods.

Public education

Mr Saji said as part of measures to reduce the impact of floods, the organisation had started public education on rains, which had been forecast to be much higher this year.

The sensitisation exercise was being conducted by disaster management committees whose duty was to develop disaster management and implementation plans for districts, he said.

Situation

Over the years, residents of low-lying areas across the country, particularly in the Great Accra Region, have experienced flooding whenever it rains, which has often destroyed lives and properties.

Even though there have been education on good sanitation practices, some people continue to litter the environment, including the dumping of refuse into drains.

Observations made around some parts of Accra showed that there are no refuse dumps along the streets due to clean-up exercises undertaken during the lookdown period.
However, a number of drains are still choked with filth.

Meanwhile, some metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDCEs) say they have started desilting drains in their respective areas to reduce flooding.

The Works Engineer of the Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA), Mr Peter Bah-Lano, said the assembly was desilting drains in areas such as Pure Water, Dome Ayigbe Town and the Railway area, which were all flood-prone.

“During the dry season, the assembly, including its collaborators, such as the Department of Urban Roads, the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) project and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, dredged about 7.5km of drains within the municipality,” he said.

He added that GAMA was also supporting the assembly to construct a storm drain of about 300 kilometres at critical areas where flooding occurred within the municipality.

He said the assembly was also in discussions with assembly members to have local emergency response teams within the communities to assist people in times of need.

For his part, the Municipal Chief Executive for Korle Klottey, Mr Nii Adjei Tawiah, said the assembly had also started desilting drains and educating people living in low-lying areas to relocate.

He added that it would also clean markets and surrounding communities to ensure good hygiene.