Thai PM calls for more floodwalls to cope with storm

BANGKOK, October 6 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has urged disaster-response units and provincial governors to set up more floodwalls to prevent further flooding as the country braces for a new storm surge.

Yingluck made the call at Thursday’s meeting with officials concerned, including her cabinet ministers and senior government officials at the headquarters of the Irrigation Department.

At the meeting, Director-General for Irrigation Department Chalit Damrongsak reported that the amount of water this year is much higher than that in 2005, so its impact is more severe.

So far, 216 water pumps have been permanently installed on the eastern side of the country’s main Chao Phraya River, in order to expedite the drainage of water into the ocean through Tha Chin River and other supporting canals.

The Thai premier also ordered the military to speed up the dredging of more canals, and the creation of diversion ditches on the western side of the Chao Phraya River to allow water to flow into the Gulf of Thailand as quickly as possible. (TNA)