Artificial rain-making boosts water reserves

The fast-moving aviation units used in making artificial rain have been operating since February 15 till before Songkran, with a total of 537 flights flying 760 hours. The operation had achieved 76.9 per cent success rate, increasing water in the dams and bringing rains to 41 provinces across the country, Sansern said.

The operation in some areas encountered difficulties due to the low relative humidity, he added. 

Sansern said the amount of water in major dams, including Bhumibol, Sirikit, Pasak Jalasit and Kaew Noi Bamrung Daen, saw reserves of 4.2 billion cubic metres at the end of the rainy season in November last year. The volume of water, after usage for all kinds of activities, would remain at around 1.8 billion cubic metres from May till July, which is higher than the expected 1.3 billion cubic metres, Sansern said.

“This does not mean we can splurge water. We still need public cooperation to conserve water and we must thank farmers for switching to crops that use less water and refraining from off-season rice crops. This has helped us manage water to have enough for everyone this dry season,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Pairoj Lorlap, 46, a resident of Pathum Thani led others to file a complaint and seeking reasons why a stretch of 100 metres of a newly constructed road along a canal in Soi 5 in Thanyaburi district had sunk over 1.5 metres. 

He said the Bungyitho Municipality in November last year had hired Bunnamchok Pattana Co Ltd to improve the road and lay water pipes at a cost of Bt7.8 million for a 1.5-kilometre stretch of road. The project was scheduled to be completed in 90 days but the company finished the construction in 30 days. He said the level of water in the canal has dropped, causing land subsidence on the banks of the canal. He feared the road may subside more. 

Sirichai Traisansri, Thanyaburi district chief, said he has assigned his deputy Khunkrai Suksumit to check the complaint and found that a stretch of 20 metres of the road in question to have sunk almost two metres. A house located near the land subsidence has been told to move all valuables from the area and ordered local officials to check the complaint.

Meanwhile, some stretches of Sungai Kolok River have dried up and Thais and Malaysians can now walk on the riverbed across the border.

The level of water in the river passing Waeng, Sungai Kolok and Tak Bai districts, which is about 65 kilometres long, has dropped from 8 metres to only three metres deep. Some parts are totally dried up that people can walk across the riverbed to Malaysia’s Kelantan state. With the drop in the water level, people in Sungai Kolok district have faced tap water shortages. The water authority in the province has used sandbags to block water from flowing so that water can be stored and reserved for use in making tap water.