Thailand plans nearly 10 billion USD for irrigation

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan recently endorsed in principle a large-scale plan to tackle flooding and drought across the country that will require a budget of 337.7 billion THB (9.7 billion USD).
Thailand plans nearly 10 billion USD for irrigation ảnh 1Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan (Photo: Thai Pbs World)
Bangkok (VNA) - Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwanrecently endorsed in principle a large-scale plan to tackle flooding anddrought across the country that will require a budget of 337.7 billion THB (9.7 billion USD).

The plan for water resource management, to be implementedfrom 2024, involves 63,589 projects.

It calls for increasing the capacity of reservoirs by 1,400million cubic metres to cover an area of 6.23 million rai (about 1 millionhectares) to benefit 5.64 million households, while protecting 5.37 million raiof residential and agricultural areas from severe flooding.

The plan is aimed at ensuring sufficient supplies of waterfor consumption and industrial production, dealing with flooding, andpreserving and restoring the water resource ecosystems.

At the meeting of the government subcommittees tasked withdriving the water management master plan and the development of waterresources, Prawit also approved a project to improve the irrigation system alongthe lower section of the Chao Phraya River from Ayutthaya to Samut Prakanprovince on the eastern side, and from Ayutthaya to Samut Sakhon province onthe western side. The goal is to speed up the release of water runoff into thesea to help alleviate severe inundations in flood-prone areas./.

VNA

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