VRCC alerts communities on chemical spillage into Tordze River
A large volume of agrochemicals is said to have spilt from a truck into the Tordze River, a tributary of the Volta River, at a spot in Tove in Togo, a few days ago.
Subsequently, the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) has warned individuals and communities along the Tordze River to refrain from drinking, fishing, irrigation, and washing from the river until the water is confirmed to be safe for human and animal consumption.
An official statement issued by the VRCC last Wednesday, and signed by the Chief Director, Augustus Awity, directed the district assemblies of the affected areas to provide alternative water sources for the people until the matter was resolved.
EPA
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has deployed officials to some of the communities along the river to investigate the matter.
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The Daily Graphic was at the scene and saw how the EPA officials took water samples from the river for laboratory analysis.
This was in the presence of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the EPA, Prof. Nana Ama Brown Klutse, who said the matter would be treated with urgency.
At Adaklu-Anfoe, in the Adaklu District, washing and swimming in the Tordze River have been put on hold.
The community, however, relies on tap water from the Volta River.
At Adaklu-Ablornu, which has a population of about 2, 500, the people are keeping away from the Tordze River and fetching water from a hand-dug borehole in the community.
The Tordze River, which has its source in a community in Togo, close to the Ho West District, flows through Luvudo, Honuta, Aflakpe, Shia and Nyive in Ghana.
Also along the course of the river are the communities of Atikpui, Nyive, Kpadzaxor, Agotime-Afegame, Agotime-Kpetoe, Agotime-Adedome, and several communities in the Adaklu District, before entering the Volta River further downstream.
So far, unconfirmed reports say “many people” have died in some riverine communities in Togo as a result of the spillage.
