FROC, BMA join forces in drying out Bangkok's areas

BANGKOK, November 7 (TNA) - The government's Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) are working together to quickly dry out flooded areas in the capital. FROC Spokesman Thongtong Chantarangsu and BMA Permanent Secretary Charoenrat Chutikan told reporters of the move following a joint FROC-BMA meeting on Monday, in the wake of a successful line-up of large sandbags, known as big bags, in the capital's northern side to slow down influx of upstream water. To speed up the water drainage, Thongtong said that more water pumps, supported by both public and private agencies and firms, as well as by China, will be delivered to the BMA for expediting floodwater in the city's affected inner areas to the sea, a fresh action expected to be kicked off within a couple of days. The BMA permanent secretary, meanwhile, acknowledged that more assessments on the total amount of water in the capital, including that remaining in fields and running through canals and rivers, are needed before a duration through which the floodwater is to be drained out to the sea, phase by phase, is clearly set. (TNA)