The Royal Irrigation Department is draining water out of the Chao Phraya dam in anticipation of more rain in the lower northern region and the Central Plains as a result of a monsoon trough.
Agriculture Minister Chatchai Sarikalya said Friday that he had granted permission for the Royal Irrigation Department to drain out the water, but warned the department to assure people living downstream of Chao Phraya dam that they would be safe from flooding.
The minister said he was pretty sure that Bangkok and its peripherals would not be flooded this year, despite the increasing rains, noting that the existing dams in the North are still capable of storing more runoff.
He added that several klongs in the central region have also been drained to create more room to receive water released from the Chao Phraya dam.
About 1,500 cubic metres of water per second is being drained from Chao Phraya dam, but Bangkok is capable of accommodating up to 3,800 cubic metres/second of water.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department said that a monsoon trough is sweeping through the lower northern, central, northeastern and eastern regions until Saturday and this will bring more rain.
The country’s four main dams are now holding a combined amount of 7,107 million cubic metres of usable water, which is enough to allow farmers to plant a second crop of rice.
