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The flood situation in the Lower Volta Basin is still dire as more communities are being evacuated and others are being entirely cut off by the fast-rising flood waters.
This is a result of the continuous spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong hydro dams.
This is according to the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who has been facilitating the evacuation of thousands of constituents who have lost their homes and property to the flood.
Spillage of excess water
The Volta River Authority (VRA) commenced the spillage of excess water in the Akosombo and Kpong hydro dams on September 15.
While the current inflow to the reservoir is pegged at 400,000 cubic feet of water per second, the authority says it is spilling just about 183,000 cubic feet of water, and they cannot ascertain when the spilling exercise will be over.
Meanwhile, thousands of people living along the Lower Volta Basin have been displaced with loss of property running into millions of cedis.
So far, nine districts have been affected by the spillage.
Some of the hardest-hit districts include the South, Central, and North Tongu districts in the Volta Region.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show, Okudzeto Ablakwa says while the flood water continues to rise, more shelters are being created further away to create space for new evacuees.
“The situation is still dire, the water hasn’t receded, on the contrary, the VRA spillage continues and so a lot more communities are affected last night we had to evacuate a few more communities in addition to the 23 earlier communities we had to evacuate, so new shelters have been created.
“I was with them last night at the Fodjoku basic school where we have our latest shelter and now there’s another shelter at Dodofo Adidome basic school. So we’re creating more shelters, more evacuations have had to be carried out because of the continuous spillage,” he said.
He added that about half of the population in his constituency has been cut off as a result of submerged bridges and roads, thus impeding humanitarian aid reaching them.
Communities that are cut off
“Then I must also inform you that a number of communities are now cut off entirely. Yesterday I could not use the Juapong-Adidome road because the Ngolikpe bridge has been submerged.
“So those who know that stretch through Juapong, Volu, Bator-Togodo, Mepe-Togodo into Mafi-Adidome and then you can use Sogakope, I couldn’t use that route because of the current situation. So technically, about half of my constituency has now been cut off because of the rising water levels,” he said.
Also, essential service delivery such as education and health care delivery has come to a standstill with schools being turned into shelters for evacuees and CHP compounds submerged under the fast-rising flood.
The MP called for more government intervention to help alleviate the plight of his constituents.
“So, it’s a really critical situation and we’d have to increase our interventions to support thousands of people who are now displaced, who have lost property.
“There is no schooling because most of our schools are now being used as shelters, a lot of CHP compounds have been submerged so there’s a lack of access to health delivery.
“A number of our health workers are also now homeless. Yesterday we were trying to get new accommodation for nurses whose homes have been submerged. So, the situation is really dire,” he said.
Credit: www.myjoyonline.com | Cornerlis Kweku Affre
