Farmers hit as dam dries up
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THE LAM Takhong Dam has stopped releasing water to irrigate farmlands due to its fast depleting reserves.
The move is affecting farmers in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Sikhiu, Sung Noen, Kham Thale Sor, Chaloem Phra Kiat and Muang districts.
“The dam currently has 60 million cubic metres of disposable water. We need to save this amount for household consumption over the next few months, as the Meteorological Department has forecast there will be hardly any rain to fill the dam during the period,” Suttiroj Kongkaew, director of Lam Takhong Irrigation Project, said yesterday. He said water irrigation for farmland would be suspended indefinitely until the rains arrived.
In another northeastern province, Nong Bua Lamphu, the local waterworks authority yesterday admitted that its water stocks would be running out in 45 days.
“We are now urging people to be economical in their use of water,” the authority’s manager, Surachart Jantra, said.
He said without rain, people in the Muang Nong Bua Lamphu municipal area would soon have no, or very limited, access to tap water.
