"Questions have been mounting over the Royal Irrigation Department (RID)'s water-management plans from farm owners who "agreed" in mid-October to allow floodwater to be diverted onto their lands to "save Bangkok".
Owners complain that the RID flooded their land, but did not drain it afterwards and failed to give them proper information. Chawalit Boonmee, a resident of Ayutthaya's Bang Ban district... "I don't understand why the irrigation department did not release water stored in big dams long before the arrival of Xangsane," said Chawalit, referring to the typhoon that hit Thailand in early October. When the Xangsane typhoon hit the Philippines in late September, the Bhumibol, Sirikit, Chao Phya and Pasak Jolasit dams were already at full capacity from torrential monsoon rains that hit northern Thailand from early that month. Chawalit believed if the dams had reduced their water levels before Xangsane hit the country on October 2, it would have been unnecessary to flood the central plains. ... Head of the RID, Samart Chokkanapitak, argued that his department did in fact reduce the water levels in its Chao Phya and Pasak Jolasit dams - and also asked Egat to flush water from its Bhumibol and Sirikit dams. ... Samart said water was diverted to the central plains not because it was beyond the ability of his department to control water in the Chao Phya River basin, but because owners of the land volunteered to allow their land to be flooded, as they wanted to help protect the capital. On October 12... Samart claimed... residents in the nearby areas agreed to allow the RID to divert a huge volume of water on to their own farmland... But Boonnoi Kuamontri, a 42-year-old resident of Ayutthaya's Pak Hai district said: "It was not done on a volunteer basis. No one came and asked our opinion, we were only informed by the municipality that the RID would be diverting water onto our land." ... "What kind of request to be a volunteer was this? We were informed in the evening, and when we got up the next morning we were surrounded by water," said Boonnoi, who questioned that if the RID was so expert in water management why did it not inform them about water diversion plans long before they flooded their land. ... Thurian Kamphaengthong, a 63 year-old rice farmer, said no one had informed her that her farmland - located in Thung Sena - would be used as a water retention area. "I heard on the TV news that my land was included," she said... Further doubts over the RID's abilities were also voiced by an orchid grower in Suphan Buri. Suchart Dokrak said although he was informed about the plan to divert water onto his orchid, local irrigation authorities failed to tell him how much water would be diverted. His 10-rai orchid... were swamped by three-metres of water. He still has no idea how the RID will drain the water off his land." RID chief Samart... said his agency was not to blame in this case and asked that the public understand the situation and for flood victims to be patient." article URL : http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/12/06/headlines/headlines_30020824.php ************* Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
