Caretaker Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Thamanat Prompow has suggested ditching the idea of building Kaeng Suea Ten Dam, saying relevant agencies should instead develop a new
Thamanat: Wants new ideas
approach.
According to Sitang Pilailar, the minister's adviser, Capt Thamanat said during a ministry executive meeting on Monday that the Kaeng Suea Ten plan is not what the ministry should be pushing for currently.
Instead, it should prioritise providing relief to flood victims and preventing flooding in the Yom River basin, which includes Sukhothai province.
Ms Sitang said that Capt Thamanat also urged the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) to consider new ways to tackle the problem instead of pursuing an old plan that would damage local communities.
According to her, the ministry is reviewing projects, including a study of watershed lines to manage water volume from tributaries and build small reservoirs along these tributaries.
She said some projects are undergoing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) while some are in the design phase.
She gave examples of water management projects in Ngao district of Phrae and Chiang Muan district of Phayao, each aiming to divert at least 70 million cubic metres (m³) of water from overflowing to the Yom basin. These projects are in the process of finding contractors.
Ms Sitang said there's also an effort to speed up water drainage before it reaches the Had Saphan Chan water gate in Sukhothai province.
The effort is expected to increase capacity and expand drainage capabilities to prevent 500 million m³ of water from reaching Sukhothai and divert 1,200 million m³ through the Nan River.
Plans also exist to expand weirs along the Nan River. On the western side, canals divert water away from urban areas.
Ms Sitang said the RID stated it would forward the people's complaint against the Kaeng Suea Ten Dam to the cabinet to determine if the plan should be pursued or scraped.
However, she has seen no action from the RID.
She explained that an EIA for the Kaeng Suea Ten Dam project was conducted 30 years ago. Even if there were an intention to proceed with the project, a new study would be required.
Hannarong Yaowalers, chairman of the Foundation for Integration of Water Management, urged all relevant agencies to review the data thoroughly.
Mr Hannarong said the amount of water in the Ping River Basin alone would cause the Kaeng Suea Ten Dam to reach its capacity in just five days.
He questioned the benefit of losing over 60,000 rai of prime forest and destroying thousands of local homes.
People's whole lives would be destroyed, not just impacted by a few days of flooding, Mr Hannarong said.