Thai government to build more weirs to prevent floods

BANGKOK, July 7 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says that some additional 3,000 weirs are being constructed in Thailand's upstream areas and due to be complete by the middle of this month; while vetiver grass will be grown to slow down excess water in the areas, aimed at preventing floods during this year's rainy season. Yingluck told people during her weekly broadcast Saturday morning that her government has kept monitoring flood prevention measures in Thailand's upstream, midstream and downstream areas and found considerable progress on the construction of the new weirs, which should be complete by July 15, while the growing of vetiver grass is due to complete within the next two months in most flood-prone areas. According to the Thai premier, the government has been informed by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) that watergates have been improved and flood barriers have been heightened in metropolitan areas. Regarding concerns over possible flooding at local industrial sites, like late last year, the prime minister acknowledged that the Ministry of Transport has been tasked with raising roads and improving water embankments around the industrial estates. Premier Yingluck noted that the amount of water stored at existing dams nationwide now stands at about 40 per cent of their total capacity, compared to last year’s 60 per cent, saying that the present amount of water at the dams is sufficient for next year’s dry season, and that about 3.4 million rai of land nationwide is now reserved for floodwater retention and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' Royal Irrigation Department is overseeing that people living near those areas are not affected. (TNA)