Residents living in communities downstream the White Volta and Black Volta are bracing for expected flooding when the Bagre Dam is spilled today.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ghana's foremost rescue and relief agency, has also intensified preparations to save lives and properties when the flooding begins.
Farmers in communities that will be affected when the Bagre and Kompieng dams are spilled on Friday, August 27, 2021, are also expecting a poor harvest.
SONABEL, the agency that manages the Bagre and Kompienga dams in Burkina Faso, has explained that it decided to begin opening the valves of the dams from today due to the rapid rate of rising water levels.
The Bagré Dam is a multipurpose dam on the White Volta located near Bagré Village in Burkina Faso.
The spillage of the dam always results in the destruction of food crops of mainly smallholder farmers.
Chereponi is the capital of the Chereponi district, a district in the North East Region, which has an estimated population of 67,609 is among the worst affected areas.
The major industry engaging majority of the workers in the district is agriculture, farming, and animal husbandry. Crops such as rice, corn, soya bean, groundnuts and watermelon are mostly cultivated.
Other districts that are perennially affected by the dam spillage include the Bawku Municipal, Bawku West, Binduri, Nabdam and Talensi.
Last year, when the dams were spilled the ensuing floods claimed the lives of ten people and rendered hundreds homeless. In 2018, 34 people lost their lives.