Residents of communities along the White and Black Volta have been advised to move to higher grounds and safe havens designed by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).

According to the NADMO, this is to prevent harm from befalling them as a result of the ongoing spillage of excess water from the Barge Dam in Burkina Faso which started on Thursday.

A statement issued by the NADMO Director-General, Eric Nana Agyeman-Prempeh, said “Operation Thunderbolt 2022” has been activated to enable the agencies responsible for disasters help mitigate the effect of the spillage.

It said NADMO in partnership with  Marine Police, the 48 Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Army, would  move to the area and pitch camp at Walewale in the North-East Region, from where we will move to provide help to the people to ensure their safety.

It said the precautionary measures followed notice from authorities of Burkina Faso SONABEL, managers of the Bagre and Kompiengadams, that it had opened the valves of the Bagre Dam in order to spill excess water to save it.

It said the consequences of this spillage downstream in Ghana was the possible overflow of the banks of the White and Black Volta hence the need for residents to take precaution.

It said 28 districts in seven regions; the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, North-East, Savannah, Oti and Eastern would be directly affected by the spillage.

They include Karaga District, Nanumba South District, Tolon District, Kumbugu District, Savelugu Municipality, Nanton District, Yendi Municipality in the Northern Region.

Affected districts in the Upper East Region are Bawku West District, Binduri District, Talensi District while the Upper West Region list has Nandon District, Lawra Municipal, Nadowli District and Wa West District.

In the North-East Region, NADMO flagged East Mamprusi Municipal, West Mamprusi Municipal, Mamprugu Moagduri District, Chereponi District and Bunkpurugu/Nakpanduri District.

Savannah Region’s affected areas are East Gonja Municipal;  Bole District; West Gonja District ; the Oti  Region areas are  Nkwanta North District ;  Krachi East Municipal, Krachi West District and KrachiNchumuru District while those of Eastern Region are  KwahuAfram Plains North and  KwahuAfram Plains South districts.

The statement called on stakeholders in the affected regions to help sensitise the people to move to safety and also cooperate with the teams deployed to make the “Operation Thunderbolt2022” a success.

The spillage of the Bagre Dam which takes place either in August or September every year, to prevent destruction to the dam, often results in flooding at low-lying communities in Burkina Faso and Ghana with vast farm lands often soaked.

A statement issued by the Water Resources Commission (WRC) last week said SONABEL, the Power Utility of Burkina Faso, on August 31, 2022, indicated that the level of water in the Bagre Dam had been rising since August 28.

“Update from SONABEL this morning indicates that the upstream level of the Bagre Dam is 234.88m and if the current rate of inflow continues, they may commence the spillage of water from the Bagre Dam by Thursday, September 1, 2022,” the statement said.