Thailand to enhance water management through 600-mln-USD projects
The National Water Resource Committee (NWRC) of Thailand on September 12 approved three new major water management projects with a combined value of more than 18 billion THB (600 million USD) and is now seeking cabinet approval on them.
The Phetchaburi river overflows in Phetchaburi province last year. A project to enhance the drainage capacity of canals in the lower part of the Phetchaburi basin was endorsed on Thursday. (Source: bangkokpost.com)
Bangkok (VNA) – The National Water ResourceCommittee (NWRC) of Thailand on September 12 approved three new major watermanagement projects with a combined value of more than 18 billion THB (600million USD) and is now seekingcabinet approval on them.
The first project is a "construction fordevelopment" project, which consists of six sub-projects proposed byProvincial Waterworks Authority (PWA), said NWRC secretary-general Somkiat Prajumwong. The projectrequires about 11 billion THB in funding.
Once the project is complete, PWA's capacity of tap waterproduction will increase by332.4 billion cu.m per day, he said after NWRC meeting on the sameday.
The second project is the construction of a drainage tunnel toconnect Khlong Phasi Charoen with Khlong Sanam Chai, worth 6.13 billion THB.
The new drainage tunnel, named Khlong Phraya Ratchamontri, isdesigned to help enhance water drainage in Bangkok's Thon Buri district, he noted.The construction of the tunnel, scheduled to start in 2021, will take fiveyears to finish, he added.
The third project is aimed at improving the drainage capacity of canals in thelower part of the Phetchaburi basin, which will improve the speed of waterdraining into the Gulf of Thailand, he said, adding that this project is also planned to begin in 2021 and will finish five years after that.
Aside from these three large projects, the NWRC also began looking into a total of 57,975 operation plansdrafted under the Thai government's masterplan for water resources management. These planswill be implemented in the 2020fiscal year, which begins on Octorber 1.
Somkiat said the water management projects were proposed by 28organisations which are implementing the water resources management masterplan. The projects areestimated to require a combined investment of 310 billion THB (10billion USD).
Separately, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said the NWRC alsoresolved to set up two new centres for national water management, namely an adhoc water management command to handle water crises and a water management warroom./.
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The Phetchaburi river overflows in Phetchaburi province last year. A project to enhance the drainage capacity of canals in the lower part of the Phetchaburi basin was endorsed on Thursday. (Source: bangkokpost.com) 
