Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt has revealed a plan to declare six severely flooded areas in Lat Krabang district disaster zones, allowing affected residents to receive relief from government agencies.
According to the deputy governor of Bangkok, Tavida Kamolvej, the subdistricts of Lat Krabang, Klong Song Tonnun, Klong Sam Prawet, Khum Thong, Thap Yao, and Lam Plathieo are expected to be declared disaster zones before the government financial support can be provided.
As the BMA and other government organizations struggle to drain floodwater from Lat Krabang, Tavida reported that the extended flooding continues to affect at least 20,767 residents from 10,300 households and as many as 1,322 rai of agricultural land.
Chadchart stated that the BMA has placed sandbags along local canals to prevent excess water from entering neighborhoods. Despite recent days of severe downpours, he reported that the flood situation in as much as 80 percent of Bangkok had improved.
The BMA chief noted that the agency is now in talks with the Royal Irrigation Department over a project to build a new drainage system that would allow water runoff from the Pasak and Chao Phraya rivers to circumvent Bangkok’s existing drainage network. The drainage project would replace the present floodway in eastern Bangkok, which is no longer functioning properly due to the obstruction of its flood-draining path by many housing developments.
As the project requires time to implement, the BMA is now contemplating the construction of a new 20-kilometer water tunnel to enable the direct drainage of excess water from eastern Bangkok into the Gulf of Thailand. (NNT)
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