Balanga Dam: A Frog In Our Throat?
Situated at Balanga local government area of Gombe State, Balanga dam lies on latitude 10o 16’N and longitude 11o 16’E of the Greenwich meridian. It is bordered by Reme, Tula, Dong, and Junge villages respectively. It is one of the so many dams built by the Shagari administration in the early 1980s on river Gongola. It was built with the goal of providing water for irrigation practice and electricity. Currently, Balanga Dam provides water for irrigating over 1000 hectares of farmland, and more interestingly, fishing activities are taking place in the dam throughout the year. However, intermittent disruption of governance over the years stalled the progress of most of such dams across the country.
The dam that is blessed with huge volumes of water stretching about 20km from the villages of Balanga, Gelengu and Reme districts, can still be put into good use provided the enabling environment is guaranteed. Investigations reveal that the dam generates about 11 Kilowatts of electricity, which is seen to be more than the requirement […]