LAM CHAE RESERVOIR
PRASIT TANGPRASERT
NAKHON RATCHASIMA : A group of 91 villagers yesterday petitioned the provincial Administrative Court seeking the cancellation of a three-billion-baht project to drain water from Lam Chae dam reservoir for use as tap water in Nakhon Ratchasima municipality. They said the project would drain off water which was needed in Khon Buri district, where the dam is sited.
The court was asked to cancel the licence the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) issued the municipality for the use of dam water, and to cancel the project to lay pipelines from the dam to a water treatment plant to be built in Chok Chai district.
In their complaint, the villagers also sought a temporary court injunction suspending the project pending a final judgement.
The court has yet to decide whether to accept the case for consideration.
Theerapol Rattanaprayoon, chairman of the Lam Chae conservation group and one of the 91 petitioners, said the case was brought against the Nakhon Ratchasima municipality and the RID.
He said the villagers' earlier petitions lodged with the provincial governor, municipality mayor, provincial irrigation chief and provincial MPs went unheeded.
The Department of Special Investigation's inquiry also failed to find any irregularities in the project, Mr Theerapol added.
The project, worth 3.15 billion baht, is intended to solve the shortage of water available for consumption in the municipality and neighbouring tambons.
The 1.20-metre-diameter pipelines would be laid for a distance of 66.5 kilometres.
The project was launched in August last year and the construction period is set for 38 months.
Former municipality mayor Cherdchai Chokerattanachai, who signed the deal, stressed at the start of the project that the RID allowed the municipality to use no more than 30 million cubic metres of water from the dam per year.The dam's storage capacity is 270 million cubic metres. It currently holds an estimated 192 million cubic metres of water
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