Inundated Ayutthaya wants northern runoff diverted

Inundated Ayutthaya wants northern runoff diverted

A riverside community in tambon Hua Wiang in Sena district of Ayutthaya province  flooded when the Noi River overflowed its banks. Water discharged from the Chao Phraya Dam drains into this river through two canals, called Phong Phang and Bang Luang. (Photo by Sunthorn Pongpao)
A riverside community in tambon Hua Wiang in Sena district of Ayutthaya province flooded when the Noi River overflowed its banks. Water discharged from the Chao Phraya Dam drains into this river through two canals, called Phong Phang and Bang Luang. (Photo by Sunthorn Pongpao)

AYUTTHAYA - A committee dealing with flooding in the province will formally request the Royal Irrigation Department to divert northern runoff along a different route, to farmland that needs the water.

The provincial committee's proposal is for the department to decrease the rate of discharge from the Chao Phraya Dam in Chai Nat province draining into the Chao Phraya River and lower Noi River in Ayutthaya, provincial governor Rewat Prasong said on Tuesday.

Instead, the department could consider diverting the released excess water into Chai Nat-Pa Sak canal, so that it drains into the Pa Sak River. It could then flow into the area downstream of Rama VI Dam in Tha Rua district of Ayutthaya, which could handle 350 cubic metres more water per minute without flooding the nearby communities, he said.

After the Rama VI Dam the excess water would drain into Raphiphat canal in tambon Krachiew of Phachi district of Ayutthaya, where farmers were now in need of more water for their paddy fields, he said.

The Meteorological Department is warning the North, the East and the Central Plain and Bangkok to brace for heavy rain. An active low pressure area covers the upper North of Thailand and Myanmar and a strong Southwest monsoon prevails over the Andaman Sea, bringing abundant rain with torrential downpours in much of the country.

Rain is forecast for about 70% of Bangkok and surrounding provinces.

On Monday,  Suchat Charoensi, director of the 12th Royal Irrigation Office in Chai Nat, said the Chao Phraya Dam had to increase the rate of discharge from 1,300 cubic metres per minute to 1,394 cubic metres per minute to cope with a rise in northern run-off coming from neighbouring Nakhon Sawan.

As a result, water levels downstream in Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong and Ayutthaya would rise about 30 centimetres to 13.30 metres above mean sea level, he said. He warned that the dam might have to raise the release rate to 1,500 cubic metres per minute by Wednesday.

Riverside communities, particularly in low-lying areas in some districts of Ayutthaya, were advised to prepare for possible flooding.

The northern flood surge has already covered more than 1,000 rai of farmland in Phichit’s four low-lying villages in Bang Mun Nak district, media reports said. Fields were under up to 80cm of water.

Mr Suchat said on Tuesday morning the Chao Phraya Dam had temporarily lowered the discharge rate to 1,239 cubic metres per minute following the reported flooding in provinces downstream.

The water flowing into the dam was rain from Tropical Storm Talas, which has battered the central Vietnamese provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, he said. The dam may have to raise the water release rate to as much as 2,100 cubic metres per minute from Wednesday.

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