Thailand okays 500-billion baht plan to combat floods, drought
The 3-year plan will focus on flood and drought-prone areas, especially those downstream of rivers
The National Water Resources Committee on Monday approved a comprehensive three-year water resource management plan that would require about 500 billion baht to fund floods and drought prevention measures nationwide.
Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow made the announcement to reporters after attending a meeting of the committee chaired by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
He said at the meeting, the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) was tasked with overseeing the three-year water resource management plan. It has also been tasked with submitting the proposal of seeking 500 billion baht in funding to the Cabinet for approval within this month.
The meeting also assigned ONWR to seek Cabinet approval for 500 billion baht in funding within this month.
The projects under this plan would include new and existing projects, Thamanat said. He added that they would include projects to manage water resources in flood-prone areas.
The minister also said that the ONWR will speed up the drafting of measures to prevent floods that are expected to hit several parts of the country in the next three or four months.
He said the three-year plan will include building more dams or reservoirs in upstream areas of rivers, which create runoffs that inundate downstream areas.
The three-year plan will also require the use of state land under the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, the Defence Ministry and the Finance Ministry for flood and drought prevention, Thamanat added.
