Collapse of the left side of the embankment of the Yom river has been blamed for causing flooding in downtown Sukhothai, Suthep Noipairote, director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department, disclosed on Friday.
He said that the Yom river did not overflow, but the embankment on the left side of the river leaked and eventually collapsed, causing the rising river to gush out and inundated the municipal area.
He said a backhoe had been employed to fix the broken embankment and the repairs were expected to be completed by the weekend after which four water pumps, which have been installed by the Royal Irrigation Department, would start pumping water out of the township.
Predicting more rains from September 19-22, the irrigation chief warned all provinces to be on the alert to keep monitoring levels of rivers or klongs, especially the Yom river basin.
However, he said the rains would add another 8 billion cubic metres of water into the country’s four main dams before the end of the rainy season.
