Ayutthaya is urging 'immediate action'

A fresh conflict is brewing between the Royal Irrigation Department and the Ayutthaya provincial office over a water-retention plan to ease flooding in the province.

Department chief Suthep Noipairoj dismissed as unnecessary the office's plan to immediately divert overflow from the Chao Phraya River to farmland to reduce the intensity of floods in Ayutthaya.

Deputy Ayutthaya governor Rewat Prasong is frustrated with the department's slow response to the intensifying floods which are spreading fast and damaging crops and inundating homes, according to a local source.

Mr Rewat has complained that the province has been waiting for almost a month for the water to be diverted.

The dispute puts the focus on a mid-August statement by Prime Ministry Prayut Chan-o-cha, who promised that flood water flowing from the North would not overflow downstream into the Central Plains.

The water situation in the Central Plains was not worrying, he insisted after the cabinet meeting on Aug 16.

The prime minister announced he had ordered a water management committee to set up a fully integrated water management system to help ease flooding, adding the flooding was due to poor water management.

He has not been available to comment on the floods since officials opened the Chao Phyraya Dam to cause major flooding in several Central region provinces, but centred in Ayutthaya.

The province may have to wait until Saturday when the department is expected to green-light the diversion, which may be too late, according to Ayutthaya disaster prevention and mitigation official Udomsak Khaonuna who joined a meeting on flooding with Mr Suthep Monday.

The department will start diverting water to kaem ling, or retention farmland, in order to reduce the amount of run-off from the North with heavy rainfall expected to hit the downstream Central Plains region this weekend, Mr Udomsak said.

Mr Udomsak said irrigation officials believe the Chao Phraya barrage in Chai Nat is likely to increase the water it releases to 2,000 cubic metres per second. The discharge is feared to aggravate flooding in downstream provinces.

Mr Suthep earlier said that water diversion to the kaem ling can wait, at least until a more severe flood begins hitting the provinces.

However, Mr Rewat said it was unclear if the department intends to oppose the kaem ling idea.

Ayutthaya sent the department a letter on Sept 2, signed by the provincial governor, asking it start diverting water to farmland after farmers, especially in Bang Ban, Sena and Phak Hai districts, concluded harvesting and agreed to use their land as water-retention areas.

The water will bring natural fertiliser to their fields, which have been stricken by drought, and help get rid of mice and pests in addition to storing water for future crops, he said.

The department's alleged inaction has upset riverside communities while residents in Phak Hai district have reportedly begun to stage a protest, he said.

Mr Suthep, meanwhile, said the department planned to build a dyke to protect unharvested paddy fields against floods.

He added a measure was in place to push water out to sea as quickly as possible by opening floodgates at Khlong Lat Pho in Samut Prakan to allow water to flow into the canal to help flush out the water to the Gulf of Thailand.

At the same time, authorities are diverting water to irrigation canals located in upstream areas of the Chao Phraya to help decrease the amount of water in the river, he added.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, officials are bracing for flash floods in more than 300 flood-prone areas across the city as heavy rain is expected in the next few days, said deputy Bangkok governor Amorn Kitchawengkul.

Officials have been told to begin pushing water in city canals out to the Chao Phraya to make room for water from the expected downpours. More water pumps will also be deployed in flood-prone areas.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

by APINYA WIPATAYOTIN & SUNTHORN PONGPAO

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