Save us from effects of Bagre Dam spillage — Farmers
Some farmers in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region have called for a permanent solution to the negative effects the spillage of water from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso has on them.
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According to the farmers, the spillage often had adverse effects on their produce, as the notice given them about the spillage was always short.
One of the farmers at Pwalugu in the Talensi District, Mr Baba Iddrisu, told the Daily Graphic in an interview last Sunday that his two-acre farm on which he had planted yellow melon and maize was likely to be destroyed by the spilled water from the dam.
The concerns expressed by the farmers followed an appeal by the Upper East Regional Office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to farmers and fishermen living in communities along the White Volta in the Binduri, Bawku West and Talensi districts and the Bawku municipality to take precautionary measures following the decision by the authorities of the Bagre Dam to spill excess water from Saturday, August 20, 2016.
Short notice
Mr Iddrisu said spilled water from the dam would worsen their plight, in view of the fact that the Upper East Region recently experienced torrential rains which affected some farm produce, particularly yellow melon.
He indicated that while NADMO carried out a sensitisation campaign before the spillage, the notice came too late.
Public sensitisation
Spillage of excess water from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso started at exactly 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 20, 2016.
The Upper East Regional Co-ordinator of NADMO, Mr Alfred Sawug, told the Daily Graphic in Bolgatanga on Sunday that his outfit had been monitoring the spillage closely, saying that the excess water started entering the country from yesterday morning.
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He, however, said the situation had not, at that time, reached the point of causing flooding in communities along the White Volta.
Mr Sawug explained that the Burkinabe authorities first gave an indication that they were going to spill the water on August 15, 2016 but that did not happen until Saturday, August 20, 2016.
He said NADMO started its sensitisation exercise before the Burkinabe authorities gave notice of the spillage.
This year’s spillage comes at a time when food crops are yet to be harvested because of delayed rains.