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By APD writer Chen Jiabao
BANGKOK, May 26 (APD) -- Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang apologized to the public after the torrential rain in recent days left Bangkok flooded, local media Friday reported.
"I apologize for the bad consequences that people have suffered from the floods with no excuses. I've tried my best to manage the problem."Asawin said.
Officials of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration(BMA) has admitted that they are not able to cope well with floods after the heavy rains.
Asawin blames the city's poor drainage system that has a capacity to drain only 60 millimeters per hour of rainfalls.
Bangkok was hit by pounding rain that has lated for seven hours on Wednesday night. Some parts of the capital have recorded an amount of rainfall of 169 mm per hour, which was the peak in about 20 years.
The floods paralyzed the traffic and forced several schools to close. Some places has eyed a depth of 30 centimeters of floodwater.
Experts said the poor infrastructure and lack of preparedness resulted in the floods.
BMA drainage and sewerage director Sompong Wiangkaew said the heavy rains were threefold more than the city’s drainage system could cope with.
Sitang Pilailar, a lecturer at the Water Resources Engineering Department at Kasetsart University, said the reasons the BMA cited were chronic problems for the city.
She said the drainage system mixed with the sewer system, so pipes were already full of wastewater. Moreover, during the floods in 2011, sand was dumped into the drainage system that had not been cleared out completely, lessening the capacity of the city’s drainage pipes by half.
It's not the first time that Bangkok governor make apologize to the public due to their unsatisfactory management of floods after downpours.
In 2015, the then Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra has apologized to Bangkok residents, admitting that he was not capable to deal with the floods. He was asked to resign by discontented netizens.
Local media said that Thai prime minister Prayut-Chan-o-cha would visit the flooded-prone areas, meanwhile, the government has deployed traffic easing teams from army to help flood victims.
The rain will lessen, but last to May 28, according to the Meteorological department.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
