FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Chadchart told to team up with govt to halt Bangkok floods

Chadchart told to team up with govt to halt Bangkok floods

The Thai Sang Thai Party on Sunday urged Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt to collaborate with government agencies to halt flooding in the capital.

Thai Sang Thai secretary-general Sita Divari said more than half of the issues causing flooding in Bangkok could be resolved if Chadchart seeks help from all government agencies.

Sita was speaking to reporters as he and Thai Sang Thai leader Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan delivered relief supplies to flood victims in the northern suburbs of Sai Mai and Bang Khen.

Sita said canalside residents of the two districts told him that floods this year were as bad as in 2011, when Bangkok was hit by massive flooding from upstream provinces.

He added that the floods can be tackled quickly if the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) effectively manages drainage of the city’s 2,600-kilometre-long canal network.

“If the governor coordinates with all government agencies concerned, he could solve more than half of flood problems we have right now,” Sita said.

He added that Chadchart’s record election win was a mandate to unlock problems that have been stalemated for 10 to 20 years.

Last week saw heavy flooding in the city’s eastern suburbs as Klong Prawet Burirom overflowed, leaving houses and routes in Lat Krabang district and Soi Pattanakarn 65 and 69 underwater for days.

Flood-hit residents complained that their pleas for help were ignored by Bangkok district offices. The offices said nothing could be done as Klong Prawet was already full to overflowing.

On Tuesday, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said Chadchart called him on Monday to borrow high-power pumps from the Water Resources Department. Five of the pumps were installed at the Phra Khanong pumping station on Tuesday while the other was sent to the Srinakarin-Bang Na intersection. The six pumps began draining floodwater on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Channel 7 reporters visited flood-hit residents on Soi Pattanakarn 65 and 69, prompting Chadchart to visit the area on the following day.

Floodwater started subsiding on Saturday morning and the sois were drained by the time Chadchart made a follow-up inspection the same evening.

According to unconfirmed reports, a dispute between district offices prevented drainage of Klong Prawet, the main canal for eastern Bangkok. The Lat Krabang, Prawet and Phra Khanong offices reportedly blocked canal drainage to stop their districts from flooding. Sources said Chadchart learned of the problem and took control by ordering sluice gates between Lat Krabang and Prawet to be opened.

Sita said the Bangkok governor election had been friendly so Chadchart could take advice on flood management from his rivals, including Wiroj Lakkhanaaddisorn of the Move Forward Party and Suchatvee Suwansawat of the Democrat Party.

Suchatvee last week urged the BMA to speed up drainage of the Prawet canal while coordinating with the government to divert floodwater via the Bang Pakong River in neighbouring Chachoengsao.

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