AoT downplays flood fears

BANGKOK, 13 September 2012: Airports of Thailand says it is confident that Don Mueang International Airport will not be flooded this year.

AoT president, Anirut Thanomkulbutra, said the agency is working closely with the Royal Thai Air Force to build a concrete flood prevention barriers around the airport, including part of the air force base, to prevent a repetition of  last year’s severe flooding.

“The 6-km flood protection barrier is under construction and is supposed to be completed later this month,” the AoT president said.

Flood hit Don Mueang Airport last year.

However, huge stretches of the perimetre fence line are still open and it is unlikely the contractor can complete the task in the remaining three weeks of September .

The airport will be fully operational this October as Bangkok’s second international gateway catering mainly to regional low-cost airlines like the Air Asia Group.

AoT can ill afford another flood at the airport as it would force airlines to yet again relocate to Suvarnabhumi Airport and that could result in hefty compensation demands by airlines.

However, government officials and AoT executives appear to be singing off the same hymn sheet when they say it is unlikely that Don Mueang district that surrounds the airport will flood this year.

The AoT president added: “AoT has improved the efficiency of water pumps so they can drain water out of the airport at around 1 million cubic metres per day, while the swamp area in the airport compound has been dredged to hold another 1 million cubic metres of water.”

AoT will also coordinate with the Rural Highways Department, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and State Railway of Thailand to map out details emergency plans if floods threaten the airport.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, indicated that Pathum Thani province might suffer floods, but they would not be on the scale of last year. The province borders Bangkok’s northern districts. The Chao Phraya River flows through the heart of the provincial town just before it enters Greater Bangkok.

Last year, Don Mueang Airport was closed for a month forcing mainly budget airlines  to move to Suvarnabhumi Airport after the runways were submerged under a metre of water.

The domestic airport was closed in late October when flood waters cascaded through the complex from the nearby highway, flooding ground floor buildings and inundating aircraft parked at the airport. It officially reopened on 6 March this year.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister asked the Royal Thai Army to repair damaged dikes that caused flooding in Sukhothai town’s commercial district. She said repair work would take 10 days to complete. Sukhothia is a good 350 km north of Bangkok.

Also, she instructed the Science Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, who chairs the Strategic Committee for Water Resource Management (SCWRM), to work with the Sukhothai governor to solve the problem and ordered the Ministry of Interior to assist residents.

Thailand’s engineers led by the Third Army Commander built a gabion flood wall, Wednesday, in an attempt to control the floodwater rushing from the Yom River into Sukhothai town.

The rock-filled gabion 1.5 metres high supports the flood levee on the banks of the Yom River. The broken levee base that caused floodwater to gush into the city, was fixed by sheet piles to slow down the water flow. In addition, about 80 pumps will be used to drain water out of the city.

In Ayutthaya, the PM asked the Royal Irrigation Department to gradually release flood water through canals, in order to ease the situation and prevent future problems.

According to Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, there are 16 flood hit provinces. They are: Chiang Rai; Lampang; Lamphun; Uttaradit; Sukhothai; Phitsanulok; Phichit; Petchabun; Kampangpetch; Nakhon Sawan; Chainat; Uthai Thani; Suphan Buri; Ayutthaya; Sara Buri; and Sakaew.

The flood season will continue through to mid-November as run-off from dams and northern rivers heads south to Nakhon Sawan and Ayutthaya. If the government’s measures are adequate, the water should not overflow river and canal banks just north of Bangkok.

The government’s anti-flood measures will be declared a success if the water level at Rangsit Canal can be controlled and access water pumped through to other canals. Last year, water overflowed the canal’s sandbag embankments and poured through the railway tracks to inundate the northern suburbs of Bangkok almost to Chaeng Wattana Road and Lak Si.

Sourced: ttrweekly