BMA installs nets to collect garbage in waterways
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has installed drainage nets to catch and collect garbage before it reaches the river and sea and affects the environment as well as marine life, Bangkok Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang said.
In his Facebook post earlier this week, Aswin said the BMA has studied similar models used by various agencies, including Rayong province, and even Australia for more effective ways to tackle garbage in the Thai capital.
With several sites already equipped with drainage nets, the governor said these had proven to be useful in gathering floating garbage, but they couldn’t catch small trash and grease, which stuck to sluice gates and at water pumping stations.
As Bangkok is a big city with a large amount of trash that accumulates daily, cranes were needed to lift the drainage nets full of soaked and heavy garbage. And at some canal-side spots impassable by vehicles, manpower had to be brought into play to remove the nets for emptying and re-installation, Aswin explained.
Another challenge, he said, was that sometimes plastic waste clogged the nets, making water drainage a slow process and hence increasing the threat of roads flooding.
To help counter the problem of trash overloading drainage nets, the city has installed grills at drainage pipes alongside roads and workers were being frequently roped in to remove garbage stuck to the grills so rainwater could be drained faster, he added.