Years later, East Pattaya village still suffering flooding from neighbor

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Deputy Mayor Pattana Boonsawat and Sanitation Department officials inspect Darapan Village 5 where new sewage pipes haven’t solved the long-running fight over wastewater runoff from Eakmongkol Village 8.
Deputy Mayor Pattana Boonsawat and Sanitation Department officials inspect Darapan Village 5 where new sewage pipes haven’t solved the long-running fight over wastewater runoff from Eakmongkol Village 8.

New sewage pipes haven’t solved the long-running fight over wastewater between two East Pattaya villages.

For years, the lack of a proper drainage system under Eakmongkol Village 8, off Khao Talo Soi 3, wreaked havoc on residents of neighboring Darapan Village 5. Darapan residents repeatedly have suffered inundation from Eakmongkol storm runoff.

Proper drainage pipes were installed in Eakmongkol in 2015, but the owner of the housing development raised the ground level and blocked a key natural drainage path to the railway parallel road. So, despite new pipes, Darapan continues to flood.

Deputy Mayor Pattana Boonsawat and Sanitation Department officials brought bags of consumer products to 50 families affected by the most-recent flooding, telling them that city hall has instructed Eakmongkol’s operator to open the flood channel.

City workers also repaired a flood-damaged road and cleaned out sewers.

The long-term plan to solve the area’s flooding woes is a new pumping station with six pumps and a reservoir to catch storm runoff and send it to Huay Yai and Jomtien for processing.

The project is only in the design stages, however, so it will be years before it is operational.