BANGKOK, Jan 6 (TNA) – The Cabinet will consider the establishment of an operation center to solve the water crisis, which will be chaired by the Prime Minister.
The framework of the new operation center for water management and the action plan to fight drought have been proposed by the National Water Resource Committee and will be forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration tomorrow.
The Budget Bureau will mull the budget allocation to support the operations to solve the water crisis.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Sri-on ordered the Royal Irrigation department to control salinity level in the Chao Phraya River during the upcoming new round of high tide, starting tomorrow to alleviate impacts on tap water production, agricultural and industrial sectors.
He ordered the department to roll out measures to handle saltwater intrusion in the downstream Chao Phraya River during the hide tide from Jan 7-17.
Thongplew Kongchan, director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department said the high tide will peak on Jan 13.
According to the plan, the department will increase water discharge from 85 cubic meters per second to 95 cubic metres per second from Jan 8-10 to dilute the sea water. The water discharge will be reduced to 90 cubic metre per second on Jan 11.
Khlong Lat Pho sluice gate management and water diversion from the Mae Khlong River into the downstream Chap Phraya River are part of the strategies to handle sea water intrusion during the high tide, he said. (TNA)
