BMA bolsters efforts to tackle flooding with 2 million sandbags amid forecast of heavy rains
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is confident of coping with floods after it prepared 2 million sandbags to fill a hole in embankments.
The BMA held a press conference on Wednesday morning to update on the water situation.
Deputy Bangkok governor Thawida Kamolvej mentioned the recent advice asking office workers to work from home. He said the BMA could not order all of them to work from home but wanted to ask for cooperation to return home early.
He cited a warning from the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) as the reason. The ONWR has said that water flows from the North would push up the water level, while heavy rains are forecast for Bangkok and the Central region on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt ordered officials to report the footage from surveillance cameras before and after the rains and also told the BMA’s Public Relations Office to issue weather alerts at 5am and 3pm.
Jessada Chanprapa, deputy director of the Drainage and Sewerage Department, reported that the drainage level of the Chao Phraya River is at 2,697 cubic metres per second while 3,100 cubic metres per second of water is flowing through the Bang Sai water station. He also revealed that the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) is diverting more water to the West.
Meanwhile, four main dams — Bhumibol, Sirikit, Khwae Noi Bamrung Daen, and Pasak Chonlasit — could receive more water. However, the Pasak Chonlasit dam must release more water to Bangkok, as the current water level is at 106 per cent of capacity.
Jessada said that the BMA has prepared sandbags in 76 areas to prevent floods amid rains. It has also created a water diversion plan while installing more water pumps in several spots.
He explained the heavy rains in Bangkok on Monday to the monsoon trough lying in the middle of the city.
However, the weather forecast on Wednesday said that the trough had disappeared due to cold winds, but heavy rains were still likely, especially in southern Bangkok.
Jessada mentioned an incident last year when the water level had risen above the height of the sandbags. He said the office had made stronger and more dense sandbags.
Jessada also expected that the water flow would not be more than 3,500 cubic metres per second, as the RID would divert the water in another direction.
