Taps in an estimated 250,000 households north of Bangkok went dry yesterday due to Thailand’s drought crisis.
About 50,000 people were left without water in Pathum Thani after a plant supplying the areae went dry and service was cut, according to the officials. Another 200,000 were also affected in provinces just north of the Thai capital including Saraburi, Ayutthaya and Lopburi.
The governor of Pathum Thani has declared a disaster in the Pathum Thani districts of Nong Sua, Thanyaburi and Lam Luk Ka.
The pipes went dry after water production in the Thanyaburi district went dry, as well as similar facilities in Lopburi’s Ban Mi district, Saraburi’s Phra Buddhabhat district and the Tha Rua district of Ayutthaya.
Utility officials have asked people in the area to store water in containers and asked the Royal Irrigation Department to distribute more water to generate for household use.
Pathum Thani provincial officials will dispatch fire trucks to deliver water through the affected areas, The Nation reported.
Thailand has suffered the worst drought in decades. Water levels are critically low in the three key reservoirs that flow into the Chao Phraya River, one of the two main sources of Bangkok’s tap water. A number of roads has been damaged by the subsidence. Farmers throughout the kingdom were asked to delay cultivation due to the lack of water.
Photo: Cedrennes
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