City Hall blasted for flood

City Hall has come under heavy criticism from the government which accused it of being too slow to drain water from streets and roads following heavy rain on Tuesday afternoon.

Published: 20/09/2012 at 12:00 AM
Writer: Post Reporters

Many Bangkokians were left frustrated in heavy traffic congestion following the downpour which placed several low-lying areas under water.

"I don't want to criticise City Hall," said Royol Chitradol, flood monitoring panel chairman under the state-appointed Water and Flood Management Commission. "But we have told it [to improve the flood drainage facilities]. It did nothing, claiming the job in some areas belonged to the Highways Department."

Mr Royol said drainage flaws could be found in sewers which were too small in front of the Army Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road and clogged drains at Sutthisan intersection which were hit hardest following Tuesday's rain.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had boasted about giant underground tunnels it had built as storm drains, but water hardly flowed into them because the capital's landscape was mostly flat, he said.

He suggested City Hall use water-pushing machines in canals to help speed up drainage.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the slow drainage might be caused by problems including garbage in sewers, clogged canals and the possibility that the underground tunnels might not work to their full capacity.

"We don't know their actual capacities because sometimes floodwater may not flow [into the tunnels]," she said.

Bangkok has seven drainage tunnels with diameters ranging from more than 3 metres to over 5m. The tunnels, built as the "expressway" for floodwaters in major city venues, were designed to drain 155.5 cubic metres of water per second.

Bangkok deputy governor Wallop Suwandee said up to 29 areas in the capital were flooded on Tuesday.

He argued, however, that most of the water had been drained from the roads in a few hours. But city officials admitted that there were still some flaws in Bangkok's drainage system.

They said although the water had been drained from city canals earlier to make room for floodwater, the heavy rainfall rapidly filled them, hampering the drainage of water.

They also said heavy rain now posed more of a flood threat to the city than run-off from the North.

This month's rainfall has been measured at 800 millimetres, half of which took place over the past four days, deputy Bangkok governor Teerachon Manomaiphibul said.

"The rain volume is now more than 100mm every day," he said.

Meanwhile, National Disaster Warning Centre director Somsak Khaosuwan predicted yesterday people in Bangkok and nearby provinces could expect more rain until Saturday.

Although the rain has brought only brief flooding to Bangkok, many people have begun to question the authorities' ability to cope with a potential flood disaster this year.

Prime Minister Yingluck defended the government over its role in handling the flood situation in Bangkok.

She said the government has worked with City Hall in trying to prevent more flooding but it could not force it to follow its orders.

"This is our limitation," she said. "We cannot do the job ourselves without the city officials."

To help improve the drainage in Bangkok, the prime minister said she had ordered the Corrections Department to mobilise prisoners to clear clogged sewers.

Department chief Suchart Wong-anantchai said he is preparing to recruit 2,000 inmates, with good behaviour, to carry out the cleaning.

Meanwhile, the Rajaprajanugroh Foundation under the patronage of His Majesty the King yesterday gave flood relief supplies to 1,000 villagers in Phitsanulok's Bang Rakam district, where run-off from Sukhothai has damaged more than 50,000 rai of rice fields.

HRH Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has also sent boats and survival kits to flood victims in Ayutthaya's Bang Ban district, which has been declared a disaster zone.

In another development, Pheu Thai MPs will today meet Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra to discuss the city's alleged delay in handing flood compensation to Don Muang residents.

The residents blocked a section of Vibhavadi Rangsit Road on Tuesday to demand City Hall pay 20,000 baht in compensation to each affected family.

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Discussion 1 : 20/09/2012 at 05:18 PM: Who you gonna blame for to much rain?
Discussion 2 : 20/09/2012 at 05:01 PM: It seems where there is a flood there is an opportunity as we can see from the picture.
Discussion 3 : 20/09/2012 at 03:12 PM: awwww poor people that lost everything in the floods..guess their leaders didn't do jack for them awwwwwwww guess they need to blame themselves because they keep on electing the same people...awwww....good thing i have the BTS and flip flops
Discussion 4 : 20/09/2012 at 03:01 PM: "claiming the job in some areas belonged to the Highways Department." There is truth in there, did you know there are 18 (EIGHTEEN) different departments involved in Bangkok roads? I had this from the horse's mouth, late Prof. Krissada, the Bangkok Governor some years ago. In TH its "your dammed if you do and dammed if you don't" Finger pointing, away from ones self, is a national sport polished to a very high degree at EVERY level in society.
Discussion 5 : 20/09/2012 at 02:54 PM: Whilst fingers are being pointed, let's see some documented reports on where and how much Miss PM has spent of the 350b baht flood money.
Discussion 6 : 20/09/2012 at 02:46 PM: Didn't the PTP said flooding is caused by heavy rain, why are they pointing fingers at the BMA now? Are they admitting they are responsible for the flooding in Ayuttha and Sukhothai then? for not draining water out even now? those are not the BMA's jurisdiction. Nonetheless BMA's big clean up day last year was a joke, clean up crews pretty much swept mud and dirt down the sewers.
Discussion 7 : 20/09/2012 at 01:33 PM: "The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had boasted about giant underground tunnels it had built as storm drains, but water hardly flowed into them because the capital's landscape was mostly flat, he said. He suggested City Hall use water-pushing machines in canals to help speed up drainage." There's funny, there's comedy and then there are comments like these. Priceless.
Discussion 8 : 20/09/2012 at 12:49 PM: I said earlier that the Puppet will blame the BKK administration for any flooding in BKK, we can see that it starts now..for other parts of Thailand, she will blame the rain...5555. She knows very well where all the money for flood prevention went.
Discussion 9 : 20/09/2012 at 12:46 PM: The usual Pheu Thai blame game is only politically motivated. In 15 provinces upcountry mother nature tests the flood prevention measures put in place from the central Gov with 350 billion Baht. And in all 15 provinces the test FAILED,FAIL,FAIL...
Discussion 10 : 20/09/2012 at 09:43 AM: Here we go again arguing among themselves.That is why nothing gets done.If you remember the Governor was making excuses last week to cover himself it amazed me how accurate his figure's were" we can cope with 60mm of rain per day",Wrong they may be able to in theory. The question of the B20000 needs sorting if the money is still there and has not gone awol.Many of these people who are on low incomes desperately need that B20000.If it has not gone missing then whose bank account is it in gaining 3.5% interest?
Discussion 11 : 20/09/2012 at 09:41 AM: Have you ever watched street cleaning in Bangkok, A truck mounted water cannon blasts all the rubbish down the drains. Obviously the drains become blocked. Thailand is the land of the plastic bag, the plastic wrapper, the plastic carton, the plastic bottle.
Discussion 12 : 20/09/2012 at 09:33 AM: the blaming game have started,no flooding in 2012 more white lies
Discussion 13 : 20/09/2012 at 09:31 AM: are them blame game beggining to emerge the regime is becoming nervely with the big water coming to bangkok,not our fault, blame the governor of bangkok,there will be no flooding in 2012 the money to prevent has gone missing just like the 4 mill tonne of rice,perhaps then blame the farmer for that too much graft exist in this regime the pacc and nccc and dsi should be investiagating and diband this sham
Discussion 14 : 20/09/2012 at 09:18 AM: This is a PT finger pointing exercise to detract from their failure to prevent floods so far and to curry favor in the governor election coming up where they hope to get one of their own in power so they can spread their incompetent net even wider .People in Bangkok arent as gullible as PTs voter base so maybe try doing your job properly if you want to curry favor instead of pointing fingers .
Discussion 15 : 20/09/2012 at 09:17 AM: I thought the government cut the BKK budget. On top of that, BKK wasn't even that flooded compared to the rest of the country...the very people that probably voted for them...and will continue to vote for them like lemmings.
Discussion 16 : 20/09/2012 at 09:09 AM: Awww... Poor widdle Bangkokians... Got their 5000 baht shoes wet and had to sit in traffic... Your plight and sorrows are wasted on the rest of your people that are loosing everything due to flooding.
Discussion 17 : 20/09/2012 at 08:54 AM: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the slow drainage might be caused by problems including garbage in sewers, Is this the same reason that the govenments problems are slow to be resolved? Garbage in parliment?
Discussion 18 : 20/09/2012 at 07:54 AM: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the slow drainage might be caused by problems including garbage in sewers, comments like this make a person proud to stand up and say "this is our PM" Not sure if she got this from her overseas education or her superior skills in the family real estate business
Discussion 19 : 20/09/2012 at 07:32 AM: Flooded roads, traffic chaos, expressway parking lot during heavy rain is obvious to all Bangkokians. It's BMA responsibility to clear all clogging drainage, canals and enforce strict waste management rules and law to prevent the clogging. We cannot leave this to only BMA. People should all be aware we all have to play role by not littering plastic bags, not building into canals and river. If we all do our part it will certainly speed up the drain. BMA needs to think longer term and work with all other agencies not stand alone. If Bangkok needs all new drainage system let's think about it and start. If giant tunnels don't work let's improve them.
Discussion 20 : 20/09/2012 at 07:21 AM: One would have thought by now that someone would have explained to the flood monitoring panel chairman that water pushing machines are totally useless and a mere waste of money and source of more pollution.
Discussion 21 : 20/09/2012 at 05:38 AM: "This is our limitation," she said. "We cannot do the job ourselves without the city officials." Keep your tasks pending. We all know how slow the city officials/bureaucrats work in Thailand. Meanwhile, the flooding fear will drive the bricks and cement prices up which is good for some giant (read greedy) business owners.
Discussion 22 : 20/09/2012 at 05:29 AM: Discussion 2 : drsmith "People demanding 20,000 for themselves never caring or concerned what happened to the 350,000,000,000 in flood management funding. Amazing Thailand where money is more important than keeping dry." Here I agree. In a democracy, people often get the government that they deserve. The key to improvement is not whole-scale criticism of this or that party, but the education & involvement of the populace. First, it should be shown & taught that corruption & inefficiency, patronage, etc. are not O.K?
Discussion 23 : 20/09/2012 at 05:14 AM: People demanding 20,000 for themselves never caring or concerned what happened to the 350,000,000,000 in flood management funding. Amazing Thailand where money is more important than keeping dry.
Discussion 24 : 20/09/2012 at 03:46 AM: So this criticism really is about water and does not have anything to do with helping the PTP aligned candidates in the upcoming local Bangkok elections? After all, anything bad must be someone else's fault, it always is.

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