24 provinces declared disaster zones due to drought

By THE NATION

 

 

The government is legally obliged to provide assistance to the 24 provinces that have been declared disaster zones due to drought, the Department of Prevention and Mitigation said on Friday (April 17).

 

The provinces hit by drought include Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phetchabun, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Pathom, Sakon Nakhon, Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram, Chaiyaphum, Si Sa Ket, Chai Nat, Kanchanaburi, Suphanburi, Chachoengsao, Prachinburi and Songkhla.

 

“It is believed that 6,824 villages in 345 districts have been hit by drought,” the department said, adding that the accumulated volume of rain so far this year is lower than normal, causing water levels in 24 dams to go below 30 per cent.

 

In addition, 208 reservoirs are also below 30 per cent of their capacity, of which 53 are in the North, 111 in the Northeast, 39 in the Central region and five in the South.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30386242

 

- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-04-17

 

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Why no mention of Chonburi? The reservoirs feeding Pattaya have been reported at 5% capacity. I have photos of people fishing near the water intake area, but walking. No need for a boat, the water is so shallow.

High speed train to airport and a massive U-turn bridge at every rail crossing mega project is a far more important priority than water supply.????????????

Back to the real disaster.

If this year ends nearly as dry as the last one it will become real ugly.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3079661/did-chinas-dams-contribute-drought-lower-mekong-countries

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The government is legally obliged to provide assistance to the 24 provinces that have been declared disaster zones due to drought,

.... and morally obliged to help out the millions they have just locked up and stopped working to feed their families. I fear their assistance here will just be the same - make a claim and tell them they do not qualify

Very interesting that all the provinces that surround Khon Kaen are in drought but Khon Kaen is not. I must have missed all the rain that Khon Kaen has not had to keep it out of the drought.

This is Mabprachan Lake, they suggest its down to 5% but I have a feeling its way below that -

"legally obliged to provide assistance" in what form will this come?

Queue up at ur local community centre for a 3 litre bottle of poorly filtered water.

Thanks, but no thanks.

2 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Back to the real disaster.

If this year ends nearly as dry as the last one it will become real ugly.

Yes, and that is the way it is shaping up. We have not had any rain for three weeks although plenty of storms have passed by. The ground is starting to crack just like dry season.

 

On a hopeful side the ants are on the move to higher places around the house. The trouble is that the ants can be wrong.

4 hours ago, audaciousnomad said:

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3079661/did-chinas-dams-contribute-drought-lower-mekong-countries

Yet another Chinese disaster. 

This was Maprachan 3 weeks ago. People fishing in what should have been the deepest part of the reservoir are wading, not even waist deep. City was saying, no problem, all under control.

6 hours ago, GreasyFingers said:

Yes, and that is the way it is shaping up. We have not had any rain for three weeks although plenty of storms have passed by. The ground is starting to crack just like dry season.

 

On a hopeful side the ants are on the move to higher places around the house. The trouble is that the ants can be wrong.

Our ants would resent that statement????! However, the past week did see quite a bit of widespread April rain, with more is forecast, increasing into May. I trust my ants more than the TMD but let's hope both are right about this. Thailand and the world needs a bit of good news for a change. Last year saw a very weak SM Monsoon.

The wife and myself were at the Passak dam (Lopburi ) , today that is about 17% full,the same s it always is this time of the year ,now is still the dry season ,most dams and lakes will be well down on water ,the rains are not really due for at least another month, maybe plenty of showers,but they will hardly be dam fillers .

If this was in another 4-5 months it would be a problem, lets wait for the rains then look at the situation  again.

As for legal  obliging to give assistance, with the present situation, the words legal, obliging and assistance will be missing from the government vocabulary, as the coffers are almost empty .

19 hours ago, Russell17au said:

Very interesting that all the provinces that surround Khon Kaen are in drought but Khon Kaen is not. I must have missed all the rain that Khon Kaen has not had to keep it out of the drought.

  Yes , I noticed the same thing . I think in the report , 'drought'  refers to how much water is in local dams . I  thought it meant a lack of a certain amount of rainfall , over a certain period , regardless of local water supplies ???

Kickstart - Mabprachan Lake is less than 5% and we have had not Government water for over a month in our village. Current costs of buying trucked water is approximately 6,000 baht. Sometimes we dont shower for a few days at a time as the water trucked in is so dirty. Just basic cleanliness is getting to be a big problem, such as washing the dishes or keeping the toilets clean and free from smell. I am not going to go into the huge budget given to local authority a few back to sort this out, but looks like they failed miserably. Where is the connection of all the reservoirs and river in Bangkok ? Looks like it was budgeted for but never done.