BANGKOK, 26 June 2015 – The government has urged all agencies to brace for both drought and flood situations due to an expected monsoon, while authorities are gearing up groundwater well drillings to aid drought stricken farmers.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental (MNRE) Secretary-General Kasemsun Chinnavaso, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Gen Prawit Wongsuwan has expressed his concern regarding the nation’s climate change situation in wake of the low precipitation, while a big monsoon is expected to blow over Thailand in a few days.
He has said that rain from the monsoon could help fill up reservoirs and dams which would reduce the severity of the drought. Despite the need for precipitation, more rain could also lead to floods in many areas. Related agencies have been ordered to prepare for both scenarios and prepare accordingly.
On the relief operations for the drought and water shortages in the Chao Phraya River basin, the Department of Groundwater Resources has dispatched a team of officials to drill 500 additional groundwater wells and to perform maintenance checks on the existing wells to help farmers, especially now that rice crops are dying from the lack of water.
The MNRE Secretary-General has cited the MNRE Minister Gen Dapong Ratanasuwan’s order to the Department of Groundwater Resources to survey existing groundwater wells for their safe yield capacity.
Water from wells with a capacity level below the safe yield can be used for consumption, while new wells will be drilled near the existing water supply infrastructures to reduce the cost of the new supply system’s construction. The new drilling system is capable of drilling to a depth of 1 kilometers, while the traditional method can only drill 200 meters in depth.
