Communities along White Volta warned of Bagre Dam spillage

Residents living along the White Volta in the Northern Region have been urged to vacate their homes immediately as the authorities in Burkina Faso have started spilling the Bagre Dam. 

The Northern Regional Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization, Alhaji Mahama Abdulai Silimboma, who disclosed this in an interview with GBC's Radio Savannah in Tamale, said NADMO officials have been dispatched to communities along the White Volta to persuade them to vacate the area. 

He advised persons who travel or work along the river basin to stay out of the area until further notice. 

Alhaji Silimboma said NADMO is fully prepared for the spillage, adding that, enough relief items have been stocked in anticipation of a disaster. 

Last year, about 10 people drowned whilst several communities were cut off from the rest of the country for weeks. 

In 2007, the government had to declare a state of emergency in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions following the spillage of the Bagre Dam. 

The floods claimed about 50 lives and affected over 3,000 people.

GBC