The cabinet has approved about 7 billion baht from the Central Fund to implement 1,700 urgent water-management projects, Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya said Wednesday.
Gen Chatchai, who chairs the Water Management and Policy Committee, said the urgent first-phase projects scheduled for 2015 and 2016 should be completed within one year. They are aimed at maintaining water supplies across the country and preventing repeated flooding.
In the as-yet-unscheduled second and third phases, medium-scaled and large reservoir projects will be implemented. Public hearings and environmental-impact assessments will be conducted first.
Maj Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a deputy government spokesman, said Wednesday that the cabinet approved over 7 billion baht from the Central Fund for 1,712 water management projects as proposed by Gen Chatchai.
More than 100 billion baht will be used for the water management plan this year. Of this, some 60 billion baht will be from budget allocations and another 50 billion baht from other sources, such as loans and the Central Fund, said Maj Gen Sansern.
Speaking after the cabinet meeting, Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had asked the Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Interior and Natural Resources and Environment ministries to jointly aid farmers affected by drought between this month and April.
Gen Prayut has placed more emphasis on measures to prevent crops from dying, said Gen Anupong. There are several measures, such as the release of water by the Royal Irrigation Department, to supply drought-hit farmland, said the minister. If that water proves insufficient to irrigate farmland, artesian wells will be used.
The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, will dispatch water trucks and pumps to drought-hit areas, said Gen Anupong.
Deputy Interior Minister Sutee Markboon on Wednesday expressed confidence that the government's water-management plan could efficiently deal with drought.
He gave his assurance that water quantities would meet consumption levels this year. However, there are water-supply problems for agriculture and efforts are being made to tackle them. Surveys will be done to locate areas for artesian-well drilling, he said.
So far, 15 provinces have been hit by severe drought, said the deputy minister.