Government officials have declared the
water drainage tests conducted yesterday in the capital were a success.
They said the acceleration of water flow
without causing floods to low-lying areas along the canals will provide the
basis for a water management system.
Royol Chitdorn, director of the Bangkok
Drainage Drill Operation Centre, said he was confident the lessons learned from
the exercise will enable officials concerned to tackle flood management work
more effectively.
This bird's eye view picture of Khlong Thawi
Watthana in western Bangkok was captured on a camera in a helicopter flying
over the canal during the government's water drainage tests yesterday
afternoon. — SITHIKORN WONGWUDTHIANUN
"All I can say is that we have
obtained enough information to draw up a model of the water flow in the west
and east of the capital. It will be a significant tool in the future for the
water drainage system in Bangkok," Mr Royol said.
Sluice gates at Khlong Thawi Watthana were
opened yesterday afternoon to increase the water flow to 17 cubic metres per
second from 10 cu/m per second. The water was then directed through Khlong Bang
Phai, Khlong Bang Weg, Khlong Praya Ratchamontri and Khlong Pasicharoen. There
were no reports of flooding in low-lying areas.
Mr Royol said 16 water-pushing machines
along the canals helped reduced the water level to 20 centimetres above the
mean sea level from 30cm.
"Although we had a higher amount of
water, the level was still low due to the quick drainage work," he said.
"In the future, there will be no need for us to close the sluice gates to
prevent flooding. We can just leave them open and let the water flow through
quickly."
He said if the water flow through each
canal was increased to 45 cu/m per second, it would mean that as much as 3,000
cu/m of water per second would pass into the sea via the Chao Phraya, Bang
Prakong and Tha Chin rivers.
Khlong Thawi Watthana was designed to have
the capacity to drain 45 cu/m of water per second, but the capacity has been
reduced to only 10 cu/m per second because the canal has become narrower over
the years.
Meanwhile, Chatchom Chompradist, director
of the Water Management Division from the Department of Royal Irrigation, said
the centre planned to conduct a similar test on canals in the east of the city
tomorrow.
Sucharit Pultanakulwong, chief of the
Department of Water Resources Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, said that
the drill showed the relevant state agencies including the Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration and the Department of Royal Irrigation have cooperated closely
in their work.
While the tests showed satisfactory
results, more water should have been used. Instead of 17 cu/m. The water volume
used during the tests should have been 45 cu/m per second, he said.
Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop
Suraswadi said yesterday's tests showed the water flow in the canals has
improved by 20% to 30% after a full year of work to repair the sluice gates and
the installation of water flow-accelerating devices.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said
the drainage tests ran smoothly as none of the seven spots being watched
closely for possible flooding during the trials were affected as had been
feared.
MR Sukhumbhand, however, said he was more
concerned about the next round of drainage tests to be carried out tomorrow in
eastern Bangkok where the drainage route runs through several large
communities.
The opposition Democrat Party, meanwhile,
countered that the measurement of improved water drainage capacity that was
seen in the trials yesterday did not represent the actual drainage capacity of
the canals in a real-life situation.
Party deputy spokesman Nat Bantadtan said
the government needed to ensure that all the seven major locations found to
have overflowed with water on the drainage route during last year's floods were
completely fixed.
(bangkokpost.com)
