Is Bangkok in for a 'water world' sequel?
As the rains pour down, anxious Bangkokians wonder whether a repeat of last year's flooding will occur. A former senior BMA official tells 'Spectrum' that while advances have been made in protection measures, the city is still dangerously vulnerable to a deluge from the North
- Published: 7 Oct 2012 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: Spectrum
Since last year's floods inundated Bangkok, city and government officials have set about the task of dredging close to 1,000 canals to try and prevent a repeat of the catastrophe in the capital.
DON’T HANG AROUND: Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra inside the new Rama IX-Ramkhamhaeng tunnel, which will drain excess water from Saen Saep and Lat Phrao canals into the Chao Phraya River.
But they can offer no assurance that the city is flood-proof as it has a limited capacity to cope with the dual threats of heavy localised rainfall and the damaging effects of torrents of overflowing water from northern dams. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) officials say that the capital's flood prevention strategy is centred around coping with water from rainfall and not the exceptional circumstance of additional water streaming from the North, as happened last year.
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