More than 235,000 people across Thailand have been struggling with
floods, according to the latest updates from the Disaster Prevention and
Mitigation Department.
Bangkok residents were not
officially recognised as flood victims but in the wake of heavy rain, hundreds
of thousands of them were stuck in bad traffic as floodwater swamped the
surface of many roads in the Din Daeng, Ram-Indra, Huai Kwang, Ratchadaphisek
and Rama VI areas last night.
Speaking before last night's
flood woes, Deputy government spokesman Anusorn Lamsa-ard yesterday attacked
the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) for failing to keep the city's
roads dry on several days over the past week. He said at least 29 Bangkok roads
were flooded, paralysing traffic and affecting hundreds of thousands of city
residents.
"The Bangkok governor and
his deputies should have done better," Anusorn said, adding that the BMA's
explanation about the flooding being temporary and that it had been caused by
heavy downpours was just not acceptable.
"You have to manage the
situation better. The Bangkok governor has often said that the capital's
water-drainage system is designed to deal with rainfall, not upstream run-off.
But see what is happening in Bangkok now."
Anusorn was speaking one day
after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra publicly questioned BMA's efficiency
in water management.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Governor
Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday inspected a pump station in the capital and was
said to be working closely with the Royal Irrigation Department to control the
water situation in the capital.
In a related development, a House
committee on science and technology yesterday summoned relevant officials to
provide information on water-management and flood-prevention plans.
During the session, the panel's
chairman Samut Prakan MP Prasert Chaikijdennapalai questioned why Bangkok's
giant water-drainage tunnels only appeared to be working at 70 per cent of
their capacity.
"Are these tunnels worth the
huge sums spent on them?" he asked.
Prasert hails from the ruling
Pheu Thai Party, while opposition Democrat Party member Sukhumbhand leads the
BMA.
Speaking before the House
committee, Sanya Sheenimit - the chief of the BMA's Drainage and Sewerage
Department - said his office had already prepared water-drainage tunnels, pumps
and ponds to deal with rainfall and prevent flooding.
"If water reaches the
tunnels, it will be drained away very quickly," he insisted.
Sanya also explained that the
total rainfall in Bangkok between September 14 and 16 stood at 382 millimetres,
while Bangkok's water-drainage system was designed to accommodate just 60
millimetres of rainfall each day.
"This means that when it
rains really hard, it will take a few hours to drain out the water," he
said.
Speaking separately, Deputy
Bangkok Governor Vallop Suwandee called on central government officials to
inspect the capital's giant water-drainage tunnels for themselves.
Sa Kaew province appeared to be
bearing the brunt of the disaster yesterday as thousands of students struggled
through floodwaters well over 2 metres high. The Office of the National Water
and Flood Management Policy (ONWFMP) announced that the situation was
"severe".
Locals in 11 remote border
villages in Aranyaprathet district's Tambon Takham complained that they had to
scrape by without very much to eat or drink before flood-relief finally arrived
yesterday.
When the team led by Colonel
Prawee Chakrabhand from the Burapha Force's 12th Ranger Taskforce arrived with
relief items, the locals expressed strong - if mixed - emotions. Some were
overjoyed to finally get some help, while others were resentful that they had
been left on their own for days.
Floods first hit Sa Kaew on
Monday, and Governor Sanit Naksuksri said he had mobilised more than 500 rescue
workers, soldiers and policemen to help those affected.
According to the ONWFMP, the
situation in the province is worse than in 15 other disaster-hit provinces,
where the situation was described as "moderate or minor". These
provinces are Ang Thong, Suphan Buri, Phichit, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Chai
Nat, Chon Buri, Saraburi, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Prachin
Buri, Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Nayok and Ayutthaya.
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