The Marine Department is prepared to dredge the Chao Phraya and other main rivers to facilitate the flow of water to the sea in order to improve water management to prevent possible flood and drought.
According to Marine Department Director-General Tawanrat Onsira, the Department will dredge the Chao Phraya, Ta Chin, and Bang Pakong Rivers at the points that are less than one meter deep to make them around two meters deep; at the cost of 277 million baht. Mr Tawanrat hopes that the dredging will increase the amount of water flowing by around 500 cubic meters per second.
Additionally, the Department will spend 1.2 billion baht on dredging and rehabilitating rivers across the country, and another 900 million baht on expanding the width and depth of the Chao Phraya and Yom Rivers to enable them to release water to dams faster.
As for the problems of people encroaching on canals in Bangkok, the Department said that most people did not trespass the canal areas. Rather, the water has eroded the soil around the canals. Concerning people encroaching on the waterways of the Chao Phraya River, Mr Tawanrat said it was not a criminal offence; the authority could only charge them with civil offences, but it had to integrate with many agencies to find new places for those people.
[mappress]
Dredging Today Staff, January 31, 2012;