UTTARADIT, Jan 5 — This northern Thai province has declared five districts as cold stricken areas, while drought already threatened some areas in the upper part of Chao Phraya River Basin; and the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) predicts that the country will face with a more severe drought this year than the last.
The below 10 degrees Celsius temperatures that have hit Uttaradit for more than a week has prompted the authorities here to declare five of its nine districts as cold stricken zones.
Most residents live on the hills and mountains, and more than 32,000 persons lack winter clothing and necessities.
The province office has set up a centre to assist residents and to receive donated winter clothes, while the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation allocated a 6-million-baht budget here to help to cold affacted victims.
Meanwhile, drought in Nakhon Sawan province is expanding to larger areas and is becoming more critical, as reservoirs and irrigation canals are drying up.
The Bhumibol and Sirikit Dams, at the same time, are only able to release only 7 million cubic metres daily each, causing the water levels at Chao Phraya, Ping and Nan rivers to become substantially lower. The Nakhon Sawan Irrigation Office has warned farmers in the upper Chao Phraya River Basin to refrain from planting dry-season crops to ensure that water would be enough for domestic consumption.
The office predicted within the next 1-2 months the drought would worsen and would become more more severe. (MCOT online news)
