Thailand faces extreme drought

Illustrative Image (Source :sott.net)

Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand’s authorities have warned that the drought situation is getting worse and the country needs to implement practical water resources management programmes within the next four months in order to avoid unpredictable consequences. 

Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Chatchai Sarikulya said water supply is still sufficient for people in the delta region of Chao Phraya River and Mekong River until the end of July. However, only five out of 21 million hectares of farming land in the country have enough water for irrigation. 

The Royal Irrigation Department of Thailand has called on all economic sectors to save water, in an attempt to ensure water sufficiency by the end of July, in anticipation of a late rainy season, which normally comes in May.

Thailand's Interior Ministry has placed 15 provinces on alert because of the drought, while closely monitoring the situation in another 42 provinces nationwide.

The country has also begun constructing water pumping stations, to deliver water from the Mekong River to dams and channel systems.

The Royal Irrigation Department said 47.4 million cubic meters of water is expected to be redirected over three months from temporary pumps.

The Thai government is planning to spend 1.8 billion USD on water resource management in order to ensure sufficient water for agriculture and the daily use of people in the future.-VNA