The Flood Relief Operation Center and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration have agreed to allow the gap in the Don Mueang “big bag” floodwall to remain for now.
FROC director Pracha Promnok and Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra met yesterday and agreed to widen the hole – which was created over the weekend by a crowd of angry local residents – from six to 10 meters so as to speed up flow of floodwater south from Don Mueang and to allow passage of boats. Pracha and Sukhumbhand came to the conclusion that letting the gap remain would not worsen the BMA’s flood management in other parts of Bangkok, according to the Bangkok Post.
Sukhumbhand said that the gap in the barrier would allow the main roads in the northern capital to dry out within two weeks.
Unnamed water experts, cited by the Nation, said that removing the floodwall would not really help the flooding situation in Don Mueang as new runoff from the north would flow into the area.
For Coconuts Bangkok photos of Don Mueang evacuating from the flooding on Oct. 27, click here.
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Flooding began in Don Mueang in late October. Photo: Coconuts Bangkok
