We may shut down Tamale plant over excess water from Bagre dam spillage

The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) may soon halt its operations in Tamale and its environs in the Northern Region because of excess water due to the spillage of the Bagre dam.

The company in a statement said the action is to protect “its equipment and installations.”

Management of the water company said it is following standard operating procedure because the in-take dam risk exceeding its maximum level.

“Any operation beyond the maximum operating feet puts the water facility in jeopardy, which could lead to the entire collapse and destruction of its equipment and installations”, the release further added.

The GWCL said if it takes such action, it will only resume operations after the water level return to its appropriate limit.

The spillage of the Bagre dam from neighbouring Burkina Faso is done annually to prevent any breakage of the dam’s banks.

This exercise results in flooding in low-lying communities, destruction to crops, livestock and sometimes loss of lives in Burkina Faso and Ghana.

35 communities along the White Volta in the Bawku Municipality, Bawku West, Garu, Binduri, Nabdam and Talensi districts are the hard-hit areas.

Over the years, several homes, farmlands and properties have been destroyed by floods and rendered hundreds homeless.