26/08/12
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| The spilling process at Bagre |
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| (Front) C.E.O. Alhaji Gilbert Iddi followed by Mr Woyongo |
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A senior official at the Bagre Hydro
Plant in Ouagadougou, Naxime Ouedraogo says Burkinabe authorities at the Bagre and
Komplenga dams are occasionally compelled to open the spillways in order to
save human lives and property. According to him the Bagre dam has risen to a
maximum water level of about 235.97 cubic meters instead of its normal level of 234
meters. The latest development, he explanied necessitated the opening of the
spillway on August 24, to save the dam from total collapse. Mr. Ouedraogo attributed
the situation to the abundant rainfall at the catchment area of Bagre, adding
that should the rain continuous there will be no better option than to increase
the rate of discharge. Mr. Ouedraogo made the observation when a team of
officials led by the Upper East Regional Minster, Mark Woyongo visited the dam
site to witness the spillage. He was accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer
of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Alhaji Gilbert Iddi, as
well as the Governor of the Central East province of Burkina Faso, Allahidi
Diallo among other Burkinabe and Ghanaian officials. The visit of Mr. Woyongo was
a follow up to the recent pronouncement of the possible spillage of the dam by
the Embassy of Burkina Faso. After a successful round tour of the site, Mr.
Woyongo told Radio Ghana that the gradual spillage of the Bagre dam was a step in
the right direction considering the devastating effects it had in some parts of
the Upper East two years ago. He said in 2010, many communities living along
the Volta River were inundated with flood leading to the death of 11 people
with thousands displaced. Many farm lands with crops were also destroyed as a
result of the speedy spillage of the Bagre dam. He however, appealed to the
Bagre authorities to consider spilling at a slow rate to help reduce effect on
human lives and crops. He announced measures put in place to curtail the perennial
flooding and mentioned the construction of dam on the White Volta at Pwalugu in
the Upper East to harvest excess water. The
multi purpose facility scheduled to be completed in 2019 will generate electric
power and irrigate over 100,000 hectares of land. Its existence, he further
noted, will promote water transport and improve fishing activities to reduce
hunger and poverty. The C.E.O of SADA, Alhaji Iddi, for his part encouraged
countries sharing the White Volta basin to take advantage of the water and
harness its economic benefits. According to him, SADA is looking at dredging
the White Volta to some level to check flow rate at the bank of the river and
more so, bring on board the requisite expertise both in the academic and
educational institutions across the three regions to inform and educate people
on how to manage flood situations. Alhaji Iddi took the opportunity to advice
communities along the White Volta to be on the look out to order to save lives
and properties.
GBC END IA/
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| Governor of the Central East Region of Burkina Faso, Allahidi Diallo |
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