Bangkok Post : Bang Khunthian locals strike drainage deal with City Hall

Bang Khunthian locals strike drainage deal with City Hall

Angry residents in Bangkok's Bang Khunthian district yesterday agreed to end a road blockade after reaching a deal with City Hall to drain rising floodwater that has ravaged their communities.

Bang Khunthian district office chief Pongsak Phansawas said residents living in the National Housing Authority's (NHA) six projects in Thon Buri agreed to cooperate with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to jointly manage the flooding.

Under the accord, Khlong Lad Lamphu on Rama II Road will be closed to prevent more water from entering the NHA's Project 1, known as Keha Thon Buri 1 community, on Soi 69.

Residents and the BMA will later jointly drain floodwater out of the estate to Khlong Rangkaeo, where it will flow into Khlong Si Baht and Khlong Ratchamontri before entering the Gulf of Thailand in Bang Khunthian district.

Mr Pongsak said flooding in areas along Rama II Road, particularly on Soi 69, will improve in the next two weeks as residents understood and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Over the past two days, the level of floodwater in Bang Khunthian has fallen by 15cm after City Hall installed four big pumps at Khlong Ratchamontri to drain water into the sea.

However, officials and residents have been told to be on full alert for more floodwater coming from nearby Bang Bon district and Khlong Phasicharoen.

The flooding has inundated 2% of Bang Khunthian's area.

All sides must work out a plan on how to turn Khlong Lad Lamphu and Khlong Rang Kaeo into water drainage canals, he said. Construction work had resulted in the two canals becoming dead-ends.

Meanwhile, Highway 340 has been drained of floods so it can serve as an alternate route for the South if needed, Transport Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said yesterday.

The ministry has cleared the highway's Bang Bua Thong-Suphan Buri route to provide a detour to the South in the event that Rama II Road is impassable.

However, ACM Sukumpol said travel along the drained section was not yet advisable as many cars were still parked there, leaving only one lane free on some sections of the highway.

He advised motorists travelling to the South take Rama II Road, which is still passable, instead of Highway 340.

In other news, Uthen Chartpinyo, adviser to a water management committee chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, has urged the government to consider his proposal to speed up draining in western Bangkok.

He suggested the cleaning and dredging of Khlong Sukot, Khlong Sam Baht, and Khlong Bang Toey should be carried out as soon as possible as these canals are shortcuts from Khlong Maha Sawat to the Tha Chin River. He also said the sluice gates need to be opened wider.

In addition, he suggested the Royal Irrigation Department, Highways Department and BMA meet to divide responsibility in the dredging of canals and installing extra pumps.