The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) has acknowledged that rising steel prices due to the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine may affect reservoir construction projects.
The remarks were made by Sermchai Siewsirithaworn, director of the Bureau of Large Scale Water Resources Development under the RID.
The director said the war, together with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, drove up the costs of construction materials, crude oil and labor cost. He also said the situation might eventually affect the RID’s dam construction projects.
These prices have so far seen a marginal increase due to government intervention, but construction costs for these projects are already being affected.
Sermchai noted, however, that construction of the Bangban – Bangsai flood drainage canal in Ayutthaya province is still proceeding as planned. The 21-billion-baht project is expected to be completed in 2023.
The 22.5-kilometer-drainage-canal is also the seventh of the RID’s multiple flood mitigation projects in the lower Chao Phraya basin. (NNT)
 |
 |
 |
