BMA to implement flood prevention plans

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has revealed plans to dredge waterways so as to prevent flooding in the near future.

Meanwhile, the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management (SCWRM) has begun its floodprevention plan by releasing 60 million cubic metres of water out of the Bhumibol Dam and 49 million cubic metres from the Sirikit Dam.

The dams at the end of the drought season would store water at only 45 per cent of capacity to support the rainy season.

Phitsanulok province is mulling turning 50,000 rai of land in Bang Rakham district into "monkeycheek" waterretention areas, while also building three "monkeycheek" zones on Yom River's right side from 20122014, with a budget of Bt925 million. It is estimated to absorb 32 million cubic metres of water.

As the Thai public is eager to see concrete floodprevention measures being implemented, regardless of politics or conflict of interest, BMA - whose 42 districts had suffered flooding - tasked its Department of Drainage and Sewerage to get down to the task by preparing water pumps and cleaning the sewage pipes.

The department's waterwaydredging plan was approved by city executives as an urgent agenda on Monday. The plan to dredge 69 canals will use Bt178 million from fiscal 2012 budget. First, the dredging of 13 Western canals and 16 Eastern canals, totalling 154,200 metres, would use Bt67.82 million and be undertaken by the Army from April to June. The government had previously allocated a Bt770million budget for the Army to dredge 347 canals in 26 Bangkok districts; this would mean the Army would dredge a total of 376 canals.

Second, prevention of raintriggered flooding would use up Bt13.78 million to dredge seven canals of 10,680 metres from April to June. Third, to improve efficiency in water draining another 33 waterways will be dredged from April to August, totalling 177,220 metres. It will cost Bt96.3 million.

BMA Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra urged the department to complete dredging the main waterways by May, for fear of earlierthanexpect flooding because the 90mm rainfall recorded in January is already a 20.6mm increase from last January.

As for the canalclearing plan, in which six cluster Bangkok district groups had to clear 1,098 canal locations since last November until August 2012, it was reported that 32.39 per cent of the plan had progressed. The BMA department plan to clear 58 canals from last October to September 2012 was 14.97 per cent completed. BMA hired the Corrections Department to clean 964,842 metres of sewage pipes from last November to August 2012 and that had progressed by 4.26 per cent.

BMA spokesman Wasan Meewong said the Bt5,000 floodassistance payments in 30 Bangkok districts was slow because the Cabinet had extended the application period from December 31, 2011 to January 31, 2012. The Cabinet also added 260,197 households as entitled families from the initial eligible 621,355 households and would cover 12 more districts, he said.

The payment proposal must be scrutinised by the Flood Recovery and Restoration Committee before being submitted to the Cabinet, but the committee only met on January 30. The BMA has already sent documents to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, he said. The BMA is not responsible for the delay, he said, dismissing as untrue a rumour that the money had already been wired to the BMA governor but the city had failed to make the payments.