Harvest crop by Saturday, farmers told
The Royal Irrigation Department yesterday told all rice farmers along the Chao Phraya to harvest their crop by Saturday as the level of the river was rising rapidly.
With the water level already increasing by between 10 and 15 centimetres a day, people living along the Chao Phraya are being advised to move their belongings to higher ground.
"More rain is coming," said Weera Wongsangnak, deputy director-general of the department.
He said the forecast was also for heavy rain to drench the lower North and the central region from tomorrow night through next Monday.
Weera said the Bhumibol Dam, which is located in Tak province, was experiencing its highest-ever level.
"The dam now has 10.734 million cubic metres of water. It has reached about 80 per cent of its capacity, which is a record high," he said.
He added that if the rainfall continued into early October, the dam might have to release water and that would mean a higher level in the Ping River, and then the Chao Phraya.
In the wake of the rising level of the Chao Phraya, 64 villages in Pathum Thani province have been declared disaster areas.
"These villages are located outside embankment zones," Pathum Thani Governor Phirasak Hinmueangkao said yesterday. "The situation is worrying."
In Ayutthaya, all houses along the Chao Phraya have been inundated, with two locals dying in flood-related incidents on Monday night.
The first victim, 62-year-old Samran Kongkermpoong, drowned. The second, 79-year-old Nipa sae Lee, was electrocuted while trying to move her refrigerator to a higher location in her flooded house.
The Agriculture Ministry yesterday reported to the Cabinet that as of September 2, flooding had hit 20 provinces: Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Tak, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Nakhon Sawan, Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Angthong, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, Kalasin, Roi Et, Amnat Charoen, Yasothon, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri and Chon Buri.
Four districts of Amnat Charoen are now officially disaster zones.
"We are surveying flooded paddy fields," said Amnat Charoen Governor Kaenpetch Chuang-rangsi.
It is believed that the inundation has already damaged more than 3.53 million rai of farmland in flooded provinces, most of the affected areas being paddy fields.
After emerging from the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she had instructed agencies to speed up the payment of compensation to flood-hit farmers.
"Usually, payment takes place within 90 days of floods subsiding. But I have told the relevant authorities that the process should be completed within 60 days instead," she said.
Government Spokeswoman Thitima Chaisang said the Cabinet had approved about Bt886 million for the handout of financial assistance to flood-hit families.
"Each family will get Bt5,000," she said. It is estimated that 174,383 families will be eligible for the financial aid.
Yingluck instructed all Cabinet members to visit flood victims.
She also told Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Preecha Rengsomboonsuk to check whether any plots of land could be rented with a view to diverting surplus water from the Chao Phraya. This would help protect Bangkok and Ayutthaya from the overflowing river.
