BANGKOK, 6 September 2010 – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has indicated the government’s flood drainage test on the western side of Bangkok yesterday produced a better-than-expected result.
Speaking to the press, the Prime Minister said the machines that were introduced to help push excessive canal water to the Gulf of Thailand really strengthened the efficiency of the draining system and would thus be used again in the second test to be conducted on Friday (7 September) on the eastern side of Bangkok.
Meanwhile, Mr. Royol Chitradon, the Director of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute and member of the government Strategic Committee for Water Resource Management (SCWRM), also expressed satisfaction over the result of yesterday’s flood drainage test, saying watergates along the canals in the test zone worked smoothly, enabling officials involved to maintain the level of water at every risk point. He mentioned that the water driving system along Thawi Watthana Canal had worked with great efficiency.
Minister of Science and Technology Plodprasop Suraswadi, in his capacity as chairman of the Water and Flood Management Committee, said that he was also pleased with the drainage test which went well despite rainfalls. He said the test showed the flood release system along Thawi Watthana Canal still needs some adjustments as flood embankments on both canal banks could subside unless future dredging of the canal to allow greater flow of water is done properly with support to the riverbed and banks. The minister said he was confident that with successful flood drainage tests on both sides of Bangkok, the capital will be definitely saved from floods.
