Chadchart takes all responsibility for Bangkok flooding
No previous governors should be blamed for the flooding Bangkok experienced on Thursday after overnight rain, Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said.
“Since I’m the governor now, this problem is my responsibility. If you want to blame someone, then blame me,” he said. “I will give my 100 per cent to solve this problem both in the short- and long-term.”
The capital’s Drainage and Sewerage Department reported on Thursday morning that several key roads were under 20 to 30 centimetres of water, including Ratchadaphisek, Pracha Songkhro, Prachasuk, Lat Phrao, Phatthanakan, Navamin, and several sois off Sukhumvit Road.
Chadchart said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has deployed water pumps in several flooded areas across the city and will use boats to push water from canals into the sea to accelerate draining. He reckoned that if there were no more heavy rains, the floods should be cleared by Friday.
He also said residents should refrain from throwing waste into rivers or canals just because garbage collectors were not able to show up on Thursday due to flooding.
“Please keep your garbage at home and wait for the trucks to come collect it on Friday,” he said.
The governor added that he will coordinate with the Corrections Department to hire more prisoners to clean up blocked sewers in the city, which is one of the reasons behind flooding. He said some 530km of sewers have been cleaned thanks to the department’s cooperation. Residents in several districts have claimed that floods in their area cleared faster than before the sewers were cleaned.
