Petchaburi – The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) has installed water pumps and accelerators in Petchaburi River to speed up the drainage of floodwater into the sea.
Acting RID Director-General Thongplew Kongjun revealed the agency has installed a total of 18 water pumps in Petchaburi province, 12 in the city and six in Ban Laem district, along with 34 water flow accelerators along Petchaburi River, plus six others in canals in Ban Laem district.
In addition, the Navy has used 22 water thruster boats along the river, while other agencies have placed sandbags and made a makeshift flood wall to deter the overflowing river.
The water level is expected to recede over the next three or four days, provided that there will be no heavy rainfall for the time being.
Torrential rain caused the water in Petchaburi River to rise and overflow into villages, affecting some roads which are submerged under 2-25 centimeter deep flooding.
The RID announced that the flooding was caused by excessive precipitation, and not by the water released from Mae Prachan reservoir at only 4.5 million cubic meters per day.
The RID is now using Petch dam to help with the water flow by retaining some water above it and keep the water flowing into the river in order to minimize the effect in areas below the dam, while at the same time making efforts to drain a maximum volume of the water to the sea.
