BMA ponders idea of digging east-side canal to drain floodwaters
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administer may dig a new canal on the east side of Bangkok to use as a main waterway to drain floodwaters and develop tourism, deputy BMA governor Sakchai Boonma said.
Digging a canal is currently just an idea that would need further studies and comprehensive deliberations before the BMA could decide whether to implement the project.
Sakchai said eastern Bangkok has a strip of green zone that could be used to receive water, and a new canal could possibly be dug to link to existing canals in Min Buri and Klong Sam Wa districts.
The area has no flood drainage tunnels, and so a canal would need to be used and could also be developed into a tourist destination, Sakchai added.
If the idea gets the green light, it would be integrated into the BMA’s comprehensive plan on water retention and water bank projects , he said.
Sakchai said the BMA last week held a meeting with representatives of several government agencies concerned with flood prevention to consider suggestions of the King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Lad Krabang on how to prevent flooding in Bangkok.
He said the university offered suggestions on how to get prepared before heavy rains and what to do after heavy downpours. The university also offered suggestions on preventing flooding at construction sites.
The university that the BMA lacked integrated information or big data for its flood warning system.
Sakchai said the BMA would take up all the suggestions for improving its water and flood management.