Evidence gathered by JoyNews has exposed extreme pollution of the Rivers Bisi and Subri, both tributaries of the Tano River, despite denials by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Tano North, Pious Opoku.

Following a JoyNews exposé of illegal mining at Adrobaa Bisi, a small farming community that hosts these water bodies, the MCE led chiefs upstream to declare that there were no mining activities in the area.

But a JoyNews follow-up captured footage of Chinese miners and their Ghanaian collaborators engaged in galamsey operations along the River Bisi.

The activities have left residents, mostly peasant farmers, angry and desperate.

They complain that the pollution has denied them access to clean water for farming and daily use.

The operations not only threaten livelihoods but also constitute a direct violation of the government’s buffer zone policy and its recent declaration of waterbodies and forests as security zones.