Residents of Moshie Zongo in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region are attributing perennial floods in the area to poorly constructed drains there.
Residents say several appeals to get authorities to fix the problem have been unsuccessful.
Their concerns were reignited following the death of an eight-year-old school pupil who drowned in a drain during Monday’s downpour.
The deceased, Emmanuela Obey was returning from school when the incident happened.
Her father, Micheal Obey and other residents want drains in the area fixed to end the perennial floods.
“The death of our daughter came as a blow to us. The gutters in this area are faulty. When it rains some adults are also swept away by the floods. The drains should be fixed,” her father said.
Another resident said “we have complained about our gutters for so long but nothing has been done about it. We have many gutters in this area but they are all faulty. If the gutters were fixed, the little girl would have been alive.”
Twenty-Nine persons were reported dead and nineteen injured after a week of torrential rains in the Upper East Region earlier this month.
In the Eastern Region, a downpour caused some 1,200 residents of Asuboni Rails in the Kwahu West Municipality to be displaced following the heavy rainfall.
The 7-hour downpour destroyed some 50 homes forcing residents to take refuge in a church building.
A downpour in the Kumasi metropolis on Sunday exposed city authorities’ inability to enforce sanitation by-laws and the continuous attitude by residents of dumping garbage into drains.
Choked drains were forced to bring out piles of garbage as most areas including the busy Dr. Mensah section of the Kumasi Market got flooded.
Commuters, most of whom were returning home from funeral services, drivers and traders were left stranded as some had to seek refuge under sheds and premises of buildings around the market area.
Parts of the Accra-Tema Motorway also flooded following a downpour on Monday afternoon.
The flood caused massive gridlock on both the Accra and Tema-bound sides of the highway, as drivers are compelled to remain in traffic for hours.
A number of vehicles also broke down as their drivers attempted to go through the water on the road which was at window level for some of the smaller cars.