The government has completed Environmental Health Impact Assessments (EHIA) on four of five big dam projects planned in its 350-billion-baht water management scheme, according to the programme's director, Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi.
Mr Plodprasop said on Wednesday his team also has completed Health Impact Assessments (HIA) on 19 of the 20 proposed reservoirs on the master plan.
Plans for additional environmental assessments and for public hearings on all projects are under way, the minister said, but he would not give a timetable or an estimate of when they might be finished.
Mr Plodprasop was speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Water and Flood Management Commission (WFMC) overseeing the implementation of the water projects. He was summarising the government's position after a ruling early this month by the Central Administrative Court that individual projects and overall water management scheme were likely to cause significant environmental impact, and could not proceed until EIAs and public hearings were complete.
Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi: All EIAs and public hearings will be completed before contracts are signed. (Bangkok Post file photo)
The water management scheme, spurred by the so-called "Great Flood" of 2011, is split into nine modules covering construction of dams, reservoirs, water retention areas and floodways.
Mr Plodprasop promised the impact studies would be carried out on all required construction projects before the WFMC signs contracts with the winning bidders, both local and foreign companies.
Under the terms of reference (TOR) of the nine modules of the plan, numerous royal initiatives of His Majesty the King for sustainable water-resources management are incorporated into the scheme’s master plan.
The Royal Irrigation Department has completed EIA hearings and compiled reports for dozens of these royal projects, including 23 of those for dams and reservoirs mentioned by Mr Plodprasop.
The conduct of EHIA and HIA reports for the remaining water facilities will take "about a year", Mr Plodprasop said.
He said the WFMC will see that contractors comply with all design and construction requirements stipulated in the 23 EHIAs and HIAs.
The WFMC will conduct additional, mandatory EHIAs or HIAs if any structural change or major alteration is made before or during the construction of any dam or reservoir.
“The EIA report for a flood diversion channel on the Western side has been 50% conducted," said the minister. "An EIA report is not needed for the flood diversion channel in the East, as the project only deals with the expansion of canals.”
The three-month public hearings and public referendums for water projects, whose impact studies have been completed, are scheduled to begin early next month, he added.
Earlier, Mr Plodprasop said his commission will stage hearings in the 39 provinces which will be affected by the planned water management projects. It will also seek to inform more than 200,000 people who will be directly affected by the scheme.
The commission and the Interior Ministry will supervise the public consultation process in provinces bordering the 17 river basins where construction is planned. Both proponents and opponents of the water scheme will be invited to the hearings, he said.