The army will assist the Irrigation Department in the urgent construction of 30 <i>kaem ling</i> catchments in five northeastern provinces to store water which would otherwise flow into the Mekong River, National Council for Peace and Order deputy spokeswoman Col Sirichan Ngathong said.
Col Sirichan said the work would be carried out under a cabinet resolution approving 30 projects to "retain water inland at natural water sources before it flows into an international river" in five northeastern provinces -- Loei, Nong Khai, Bung Kan, Nakhon Phanom and Mukdahan.
The water retention areas, known as kaem ling, or monkey cheeks, were to be built between November 2015 and March 2016, and involve dredging and expanding natural water resources such as streams and swamps so they could store water which would otherwise flow into the Mekong River along its tributaries.
In view of the urgency of the projects and the time limit, the Irrigation Department had asked the army to assist by dredging and digging 24 of the catchments, he said.
Army chief Gen Theerachai Nakwanich has ordered the 2nd Army and the Engineering Regiment to support the Irrigation Department as requested.
The water retention areas when completed will have the capacity to hold up to 12.77 million cubic metres of water for distribution to 14,680 rai of farm land and at least 6,030 households will be able to make use of the water.
At the same time, army units were continuing a campaign to arouse the people's awareness of the need to protect and care for natural water resources and retention areas for the benefit of their communities, the spokesman said.
The 2nd Army was responsible for 11 projects and the Engineering Regiment for 13 projects in Nong Khai, Loei and Bung Kan provinces. The work had been ongoing since November last year.