Abdulai Mahama, a Road and Building Engineer, has suggested that the government should consider constructing irrigation dams downstream of the Akosombo Dam to control the adverse effects of its spillage.
He believes that these irrigation dams would help manage water during spillage operations by the Volta River Authority (VRA).
The VRA recently initiated controlled water spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams on September 15, 2023, due to rising inflow patterns and water levels in the Akosombo reservoir.
This resulted in thousands of residents in various areas, including South Tongu, North Tongu, Central Tongu, and Asuogyaman, having their homes submerged due to the spillage.
Mr Mahama, speaking to Accra-based Citi News, emphasized the need for implementing essential measures to handle potential damage in the future. He proposed redesigning spilling channels and constructing major irrigation dams downstream to better contain and manage spilled water.
This approach according to him would help save lives and protect properties during spillage incidents.
“When this spillage comes to a closure, we may have to look at alternative ways of redesigning the spilling channels so that if there might be major irrigation dams that will be constructed under lower streams, we will be able to contain quite a significant amount of water that will be spilled.”
“So that we will have some lives and properties being saved when there is the need for us to do the spillage,” he stated.
