'Core water management system needed'
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Thailand should focus on crafting an integrated system where all mechanisms for water management come under one ruling body to combat flooding more effectively, Dutch architect Cornelius Dijkgraaf suggested at a seminar.
He said 26 per cent of the Netherlands was below sea level and a complex system of dams and canals was needed to keep the country dry. He explained that in his country, the Transport, Public Works and Water Management ministries worked together to control all water-related issues, unlike in Thailand where there is no central control.
“Here, if you travel from the North to the sea, you go past about 30 or 40 different authorities. One is opening the screw and the other is closing it,” Dijkgraaf said.
Scientists met at the seminar on Thursday to discuss the steps that Thailand should be taking to prevent a repeat of last year’s flood crisis. The seminar was held soon after the government announced that it was earmarking more than Bt300 billion for water management.
Surajate Boonya-Aroonnet, a researcher from the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute, told the seminar of the government’s efforts to share information about water levels and rainfall with the public via a website, ThaiWater.net.
The authorities have also positioned cameras on bridges to monitor water levels, are employing unmanned aircraft to examine dams, and have started using boats to push water out to sea.
He also said there had been fewer major storms and less rainfall so far this year compared with the same period last year. “Things are better this year.”
Speaking at the same seminar, Komsan Malesee, from King Mongkut’s University of Technology’s civil engineering department, blamed the 2011 flooding on bad planning and said everybody needed to work together in the face of future crises.
“There was insufficient communication among different organisations and information wasn’t passed along, ” he said. “Even villagers did not work together because they didn’t know what to do. That’s why it’s important for this knowledge to be out there.”
The seminar, held at King Mongkut’s University in Bangkok, included residents from the city’s Lat Krabang district who suffered a lot from the crisis, and it appears the forum was held to allay their fears.
However, Dijkgraaf warned the audience that this problem would not go away soon, especially since Bangkok is sinking by 2.5 centimetres every year.
“That’s a lot. In 50 years, it will be a metre. The sea is also rising,” he said, adding that people had to find long-term solutions. “But they first have to understand how serious it is.”
