Govt mulls gaps in big bag wall

More gaps in the big bag barrier in Don Muang district may be made for faster water drainage as protests against the barrier in the Rangsit area gathered steam yesterday.

DOWN THE DRAIN: Residents from the Bundit Home housing estate and nearby communities in Don Muang district remove cement block road dividers to let stagnant floodwater drain.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the government is cooperating with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and authorities in provinces surrounding Bangkok to pump out floodwater.

She has instructed all authorities to ensure that drained water does not cause communities in adjacent areas more misery.

Floodwater continued to subside in districts north of the capital, including Don Muang. Water was pumped out of canals and channelled to the Chao Phraya through Khlong Rangsit.

In other districts, flooding has completely disappeared, Ms Yingluck said in her weekly radio address yesterday.

She said more gaps may need to be opened in the big bag barrier to help release more water.

The L-shaped barrier runs north-south along the northbound rail tracks and parallel to the main Vibhavadi Rangsit Road. It also cuts across the Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Don Mueang airport and Phahon Yothin Road.

On Friday, the Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc) removed a 30m part of the barrier across Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.

The command was under growing pressure from local residents who blockaded the road and tore down bags they said were preventing water from flowing out of their areas.

The proposal to open more gaps in the barrier mirrored suggestions by Uthen Chartpinyo, adviser to a water management committee chaired by Ms Yingluck.

In a letter to Ms Yingluck, he said the Froc should make three or four gaps up to 10m each every 700m in the north-south axis of the barrier.

The gaps will hasten water flow into Khlong Prem Prachakorn, the main drainage outlet in the Don Muang area.

He said the gaps could be sealed again if the water became difficult to manage.

However, he said water flow through Khlong Prem Prachakorn was slow because it was clogged by garbage and many people had built homes that encroached on the waterway.

Yesterday, protesting residents from 13 communities in Pathum Thani's Thanyaburi district, which borders Don Muang district, urged the Froc to dismantle part of the big bag barrier that had been erected along Khlong Rangsit.

Daorit Thongnim, a community leader from Bang Fa Lagoon housing estate, said they had been flooded for more than a month.

They had demanded the Froc take down the barrier along Khlong Rangsit last week. The residents said the flood has receded only slightly because the barrier was holding up the water.

The Froc must remove the barrier or the residents will do it themselves, Mr Daorit said.

He said the residents would not inconvenience the public by blocking roads. The protesters later dispersed yesterday.

Meanwhile, Froc deputy spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said Pracha Promnok, the Froc director, has signed an order for the BMA to raise the Phraya Suren sluice gate to 1.5 meters from its current 1.05 meters.

The Froc has also promised residents of Pathum Thani's Lam Luk Ka district it will raise the Phraya Suren sluice gate to speed up the drainage of floodwater.