BANGKOK, 13 March 2015 – The Department of Water Resources is preparing to review the spatial data across the country after statistics indicated a growing number of risk-prone areas.
According to Director General of the Department of Water Resources Jatuporn Burutpat, statistics have shown that the number of villages prone to flashfloods and landslides has soared by almost 2,000 in less than four years.
The number of villages frequently hit by flashfloods and landslide in 2011 was recorded at 4,427 across the country. The number of risk-prone areas has currently jumped to 6,300 due mainly to overuse of land, deforestation and climate change.
The findings have prompted speculations that the disaster-prone zones will be far more expansive within a couple of years, if there are no preventive plans in place. Mr. Jatuporn said the compilation of data will be conducted along with the preparation of contingency plans for local people.
The Department of Water Resources will spend its budgets for 2015-2016 on the installation of 895 disaster warning systems for villages in 28 provinces in the central, northern, and western regions. The first batch of disaster warning systems will be installed at 493 stations covering 1,584 villages this year. The other batch of equipment will be installed in 402 stations to cover 1,509 villages next year.
