Riverside areas in Thai Northeast at risk of eroding soil

BANGKOK, November 29 (TNA) - Riverside villages along the Chi River in Thailand's northeastern Kalasin Province are now at risk of eroding soil in the wake of flooding, prompting Kalasin Governor Somsak Suwansujarit to have instructed chiefs of three districts at risk to keep a close watch on the problem. The provincial governor has ordered that chiefs of Kamalasai, Khongchai and Rongkam Districts join forces with Kalasin's disaster prevention and mitigation office in surveying damages from eroding soil in riverside areas under their jurisdiction and in closely monitoring new eroding zones for safety of local villagers' lives and assets, particularly those in Baan Nong Maklua of Kamalasai District, where more than 54 households are located. The provincial governors said that he has also ordered officials concerned to expedite rehabilitation in local flood-hit areas, covering damaged infrastructure, farmlands, houses and other buildings, as well as public health, both physically and psychiatrically. According to chief of Kalasin's disaster prevention and mitigation office Nattawat On-suwan, a total of 120,000-rai of local rice fields and over 2,000 roads, especially those along the Chi River, over 50 kilometres, have been damaged by the receding floods. (TNA)