BANGKOK, Sept 14 (NNN-TNA) – Thai Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister, Chalermchai Sri-on, said on Friday that, he had instructed the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) to directly supervise flood responses in the northeastern Province of Ubon Ratchathani, as the flood level in the province was higher than that in 2002.
“Ubon Ratchathani Province, this year, experienced the worst flooding in 17 years,” said Chalaermchai, “because water coming from the north and north-east flow through Ubon Ratchathani and released into the Mekong River.”
RID said, it has already installed 100 propeller pumps to speed the drainage of water into the Mekong River.
Warin Chamrap district in Ubon Ratchathani reported the flood level at 10.83 metres above sea level on Friday morning, breaking records set in 2002 (10.77m) and 2011 (9.81m).
Chalermchai said, he instructed the RID to tackle the flooding in 25 districts and to direct multi-agency efforts to drain off water into the Mekong by the end of this month.– NNN-TNA
