Several acres of farmland in Timonde and nearby communities in the Bawku West district of the Upper East Region, have been submerged and business and trading activities halted due to flooding resulting from the spillage of excess water from the Bagre Dam by Burkinabe authorities.

According to SONABEL Authorities of Burkina Faso, Managers of the Bagre Dam, the spillage has become necessary due to the 81 per cent increase in the water level.

Residents close to the bank of the Black and White Volta, have relocated to other communities for shelter and safety.

The annual opening of the Bagre Dam comes with the destruction of property and farms.

Speaking to Class News, Assembly member of the Timonde electoral area, Julius Agolisi said families are safe but farmlands have been decimated.

He said: “We made some community announcements in churches and markets for people to vacate to higher lands, and they have done that but for our foodstuffs on our farms, there is nothing we can do about it, it has been submerged. All the crops around the White Volta have been submerged. Business activities have also come to a halt because we can’t cross the Volta, the water is too high even with a canoe, but I can say everybody is safe now.”

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has sent a 25-man team headed by its Deputy Director-General, Abu Ramadan, to the regions up north, to deal with the aftermath of the spillage of the Bagre Dam.