Bangchan estate seeks more pumps

Management of the Bangchan Industrial Estate has asked for two additional pumps, while the estate in Lat Krabang is strengthening and raising its flood barriers.

Bangchan will use the pumps to drain water into three key canals because the nearby Bueng Krathiam pond is close to brimming over and could flood 300 factories in the estate's Phase III section.

Meanwhile, Lat Krabang Industrial Estate seemed to be at great risk of being submerged yesterday, after the nearby Saen Saeb Canal spilled over and submerged a major road that doubles as a barrier. The estate's management ordered an urgent clearing of the canal to ensure the pumping of 6 million cubic metres of water daily.

The estate officials said that to avoid total inundation, up to 20 million cubic metres of water needs to be drained every day, especially at Gate 8, 9 and 10 of the lower Hok Wa Canal.

Owners of the 231 factories in Lat Krabang estate met with the management team yesterday and decided to hold an evacuation drill so they are prepared if floods rise higher than 3 metres from the mean sea level, a senior official of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand said.