FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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PM's adviser seeks to build tunnel linking river, Tak dam

PM's adviser seeks to build tunnel linking river, Tak dam

An adviser to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is trying to revive a Bt200-billion project to build an 88km tunnel linking Burma's Salween River and Bhumibol Dam in Thailand's Tak province.

“The investment will be well worth it,” Uthen Chatpinyo said yesterday. During the 2011 flood crisis, Uthen chaired the water-drainage committee of the Flood Relief Operations Centre.
Uthen described the project as a solution to both flooding and water shortages.
He said water management at Tak’s Bhumibol Dam should be adjusted and the reservoir’s water level lowered in preparation for possible rainstorms throughout the year. The dam could then play a role as a water-retention area, he said.
Uthen said the tunnel, when built, would be able to send 3,000 cubic metres of water to the Bhumibol Dam per second.
The volume should be large enough to generate electricity, he said.
The tunnel project won the green light from the Cabinet in 2004 during the administration of Yingluck’s brother Thaksin. But the project was scrapped after Thaksin lost power.
Uthen plans to present the project for Yingluck to consider on Wednesday.
“If we don’t act fast, Burma and China may invest in the Salween River instead, and Thailand will lose many opportunities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said he hoped the government would be able to answer his 10 questions about its water- and flood-management policies.
One of them was about the accuracy of the mathematical model being used to develop an early-warning system.
“The [government-appointed] Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management has said the system will be ready by January. I would like to ask about the system now,” the Opposition leader said.
He was speaking at a seminar held by the Democrat Party, as Yingluck’s administration planned a tour of many provinces to tackle flood problems.
Chamadon Chomchoengphaet, an executive at tempura-flour maker Gogi, said at the seminar that he had not yet fully repaired Gogi’s factory in Ayutthaya because he was worried that more floods may come.
“I hope the government will improve the early-warning system,” he said.

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