A THAI environment and health expert lambasted substandard water management as Hat Yai city in southern Songkhla province suffers from the worst flooding in 25 and called for major revision, PPTVHD36 said today (Nov. 23).
Dr. Sonthi Kotchawat attributed the drastic flooding of the southern city to three factors, firstly unstable weather conditions caused by the La Niña phenomenon, coupled with a low-pressure system moving down to the South near Malaysia, resulting in very high humidity levels. “Rain bombs” also fell in the same area for three days in a row, resulting in a cumulative rainfall of nearly 600 millimetres, exceeding the 500-millimetre floods of 2000.
A rain bomb is usually associated with the weather phenomenon known more properly as a “wet microburst.” This is a wet column of sinking air, or downdraft, associated with thunderstorms that have serious potential for doing damage.
Secondly, Hat Yai’s topography obstructs the flow of floodwaters. This city has sprawled out on a low-lying, flat area that serves as a conduit for water from Khao Kho Hong mountain and the Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range to Songkhla Lake. Meanwhile, U-Tapao canal, the main canal carrying water through Hat Yai city, has been narrowed with encroaching structures. It can now hold a maximum 100 millimetres of water, but when floodwaters exceed 500 millimetres, the drainage system is unable to cope.
Thirdly water management needs to be reintegrated with action by many relevant agencies, such as the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) and the Royal Irrigation Department, being below standard. This indicates that despite advance knowledge of La Niña conditions this year, preparation and response plans were tardy, coordination between the province and central government inefficient and not enough weather forecasts are put out.
“Previously, we had a committee with the Royal Irrigation Department being mainly in charge. Later, the Office of National Water Resources was established under a larger committee, with a secretariat. All agencies met locally to discuss the situation. However, the government later said no, requiring a centralised unit to address the water crisis immediately. The government then established another committee at the Prime Minister’s Office to oversee the matter.
“As a result, there are too many agencies involved in water management – the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Prime Minister’s Office, and all of them proceeding from ministerial working groups, that is there is a lack of unity, leading to questions being asked about who had the authority, where is the single command or who would give definitive orders.
“With so many agencies, preparation was inadequate. While we knew heavy rain and floods were forecast, and it ultimately occurred, why weren’t we prepared for mitigation or prevention? We only talked about mitigation, but we didn’t do much to prevent it. I believe this year’s water management is very poor,” he said.
Dr. Sonthi recommended that the entire water management system be revised with the government and relevant agencies having to reintegrate and rethink to prevent recurring flooding in the same areas, particularly establishing a single command.
Water management should not only be implemented during periods of heavy rainfall or natural disasters, but must begin and be analysed from the beginning of the year. A detailed analysis is needed to determine the volume of water to be released from dams, the amount of water the dams can hold, and determine drainage or diversion strategies, such as using a fishbone pattern to distribute water instead of releasing it directly and vertically, which could flood low-lying areas like Ayutthaya, he added.
CAPTIONS:
Top, below and Front Page – Hat Yai severely inundated. Photos – Thai Rath
Insert – Dr. Sonthi Kotchawat. Photo – PPTVHD36
Watch videos of Hat Yai floods shared by Virgo and Skyboyz on X.com:
https://x.com/LingOrmonlyone2/status/1992019501525930438?s=20
https://x.com/i/status/1992530885187657801
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