BANGKOK, Jan 31 – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday said she has instructed the Irrigation Department to speed up the water discharge from major dams so that they will be prepared for the intake of another volume of water in the upcoming rainy season.
The premier’s move was part of her government’ short-term measures to prevent flooding as the rainy season approaches. She added that the “Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management”, SCWRM, will also find ways to store sufficient amounts of water during the dry season.
Ms Yingluck said that Science and Technology Minister Plodprasob Surasawadee is now outlining the natural disaster warning system while Deputy Prime Minister/Interior Minister Yongyuth Vichaidit was assigned to work with the Bangkok governor to dredge canals and ditches.
The premier said she hoped everything will have been completed before the rainy season arrives.
Meanwhile, Science and Technology Minister Plodprasob said the National Database has been set up with a Bt3,164 million budget. The database includes improvement of information on water resources and a satellite database, as well as installation of closed circuit televisions at key sluice gates and an automatic sluice gate system.
Mr Plodprasob explained that if the installation is found to be effective in 20 pilot water gates, the system will be installed in every sluice gate. He expressed confidence that the automatic system meets international standards and will help reduce conflict among residents in communities.
Regarding the warning system, the minister said his plan covered the integration of data of all water-related state agencies, alerts to the public via smart phone, the immediate announcement of warnings through broadcast and print media, as well as internet, the use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) satellites to assess the situation and the improvement of call centres.
The minister reaffirmed that all processes must be accomplished in between June and July this year to handle the incoming rainy season. Mr Plodprasob added it is important to discharge and drain water as much as possible in parallel with the canal dredge and the construction of floodways covering 24,000 square kilometres.
The minister noted that the interior ministry is responsible for the operations which are expected to be completed within five months, while retention areas will be located around the lower Chaophraya River, with announcement of the area to be made in a few months.
Mr Plodprasob is part of a SCWRM committee assigned to supervise establishment of a National Database and improvement of National Warning System under a Bt7 billion budget as short-term flood prevention measures.
