With the onset of the rains, there are fears that the flooding situation in some parts of Kumasi may worsen.
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) says the haphazard building on waterways is a threat to managing the perennial flooding.
More than ten lives were lost in flood-related incidents in the Ashanti Region, in 2023.
Livelihoods were also destroyed with many victims yet to recover from their loss.
The impact of the rains appeared to have been more than the previous years despite prior desilting of drainages and other mitigating measures.
This year, the Ghana Meteorological Agency has already announced heavier rains.
NADMO is worried the impact of the rains could be dire if individuals do not put a stop to building on waterways and wetlands.
“The past four years we’ve witnessed areas that used not to flood, now flooding heavily with leas rains. There are a lot of encroachment within our system. In a spate of a year, the massive development and encroachment on buffer zones and wetlands are alarming. We don’t have any major withholding area for water in Kumasi now, because about 75 of such lands are gone. This is certainly not right and may cost us heavily”, Ashanti Regional NADMO Coordinator, Frank Duodu explained.
At Atafoa, four lives were lost when the victims attempted to cross the flooded bridge, last year.
To solve the perennial flooding of the bridge and its associated consequences to users, government decided to reconstruct it.
Residents are hoping to see work completed before the start of the heavy rains.
“This bridge has claimed several lives, so we were all happy when work to expand the bridge started. Looking at the current size of the bridge, we anticipate that after the construction the flood issue we have will be addressed”, Isaac Owusu, a resident hopes.
For areas like Aboabo pelele where flooding has become a norm, residents are bracing themselves up for the rains.
“We’ve complained about our drainage for years, but no one seems to care about us. Until the drainage system is expanded, this area will continue to flood, and we the residents will have to bear the brunt because we have nowhere to go. We are just praying that the intensity of the rain reduces”, Sumaila Musah, a resident said.
The National Disaster Management Organization says it is taking steps in collaboration with the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to pull down all structures sitting on waterways to minimize the impact of the heavy rains.
By Ibrahim Abubakar
