The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has begun a large-scale desilting operation across Kumasi and surrounding areas in the Ashanti Region in a bid to curb perennial flooding.
The 12-day campaign, which started at key drainage points, is aimed at removing plastic waste, silt, and debris that have choked major drains.
They include Airport, Buokrom South Africa, Mossie Zongo/Yenyawoso, Duase-Kenyase, Aboabo Pelele, Asabe-Buobai, Parkoso Estates, Sawaba/Affordable housing, Anloga Junction, Oforikrom and the Family Chapel area.
Others include the Kaase, Atonsu market-High School (Wewe river), Ahinsan Ambassadorial Area (Wewe river), Suame Kotoko, Breman UGC, Kronom Abuahia/Owabi and the Attafua Bridge on the Barekese Road.
“We are doing this to prevent the water from overflowing onto the roads and blocking access. We want to clear the sand debris to ensure the water flows freely in the drains. This is not our job, but as an organisation tasked to prevent any disaster, we are de-silting these drains,” Ashanti Regional NADMO Director, Alhaji Mohammed Nasir Ibrahim, said.
The exercise comes after floodwaters inundated homes and some shops in recent downpours in parts of the city.
Many drainage systems in the Greater Kumasi metropolis are heavily choked with sand debris and filth from households and commercial activities.
The situation poses a precarious risk to communities along these drains with imminent threats of flooding.
The regional NADMO is adding to calls for the bridge elevation and the construction of concrete slabs on the shoulders and floors of the drains.
“We must construct a concrete floor and a 200-m concrete envelope on the shoulders of the drains so that once it rains, the water doesn’t hit back and flood homes,” he said.
However, some residents have expressed mixed reactions to the exercise. While welcoming the clean-up, they say the initiative falls short of providing long-term solutions.
Reporting By Lordina Agyemang Duah and Erica Dzaho, Asaase Newsroom, Kumasi
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