The National Disaster Management Organisation in the Ashanti region is on a mission to prevent a full-blown flooding situation as they embark on a major de-silting exercise in at least 17 drains in the Greater Kumasi metropolis.
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 Pelele stream around the Kumasi Airport in the Dichemso enclave is one of the many streams which has always been at the mercy of the environmental menace.
The Ashanti regional NADMO office is embarking on a 12-day de-silting exercise in major drains within the Greater Kumasi Metropolis.
They include Airport, Buokrom South Africa, Mossie Zongo/Yenyawoso, Duase-Kenyase, Aboabo Pelele, Asabe-Buobai, Parkoso Estates, Sawaba/Affordable housing, Anloga JunctionOforikrom 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 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.
For years, residents living along these waterways have demanded an expansion of the narrow culverts underneath bridges over these drains.
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.
As private individuals continue to build on waterways, NADMO says it will in the coming days launch an attack on structures erected in wetlands.