Suburb inundated as residents destroy dyke

Angry residents broke down an earth dyke in Don Muang district, sending floodwaters over Chaeng Wattana Road, as City Hall urged authorities to provide better relief and protection to prevent more such incidents.

Boats needed to clear out stricken homes

Chaeng Wattana Road and surrounding areas have been inundated by overflow from Khlong Prapa after an earth dyke in Don Muang district was destroyed by angry residents.

The damaged dyke near Wat Nawong in Don Muang caused a huge volume of floodwater to flow into the Prapa canal, which supplies tap water to Bangkok.

The canal overflowed on to Chaeng Wattana Road from an intersection near Khlong Prapa canal to Phra Mongkut Hospital. Those areas were put under about 40cm of water, while flood levels in several housing estates on Chaeng Wattana Soi 14 rose above 1 metre.

Thung Song Hong police on Sunday sent boats to help transport flood victims out of the area.

The dyke was destroyed on Saturday by a group of residents living near Wat Nawong.The overflow prompted the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) to bore a hole through a concrete wall near Khlong Prapa to drain excessive water into nearby Khlong Bang Khen near Pongphet intersection.

Residents living along Khlong Bang Khen yesterday kept a close watch on the water level in the canal as one lane of Pongphet intersection was flooded.

MWA governor Charoen Pasra said the level of Khlong Prapha was still rising as floodwater in the nearby Muang Ake housing estate poured into the canal, despite efforts by the the authority and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to drain it into Khlong Bang Khen and other nearby canals.

He maintained the MWA would work at its fullest capacity to protect Khlong Prapa and its tap water production system from harm.

Due to the amount of low-quality floodwater flowing into Khlong Prapa, Mr Charoen has told people to boil tap water before drinking it.

MWA officials and workers yesterday reinforced an earth dyke along the canal.

MWA assistant governor Ulit Makmaitree said the reinforcement of the dyke along the canal from Wat Nawong to Chaeng Wattana Road was almost complete.

Teams of officials have also been dispatched to guard the dyke.

He asked residents not to destroy the dyke as it would affect the quality of raw water used for producing tap water. Remedial measures might be needed.

The Pak Kret municipality yesterday closed part of Liab Khlong Prapa Road on the Pak Kret side, from Chaeng Wattana to Song Prapa intersections, as the height of its dyke was being increased to prevent overflow from Khlong Prapa flooding the area.