New MRT Pink Line causes flood to local school & community
The director of a school in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok said a flood to her school and nearby community is because of construction work to a new train station for the MRT Pink Line.
The school director filed a complaint with the police and urged the construction company to take responsibility. The provincial governor demanded that the water is drained away by midnight.
The 52 year old director of Samarn Pichakorn School, Sujittra Maiphrom, filed a complaint at Rattanathibet Police Station last Sunday, September 4. She demands the construction company pay compensation for the damage caused by the flood.
Sujittra informed the media that this is the second time this year that a flood has hit the school. The flood, which was 50 centimetres high, destroyed school equipment and classroom floors, especially in the kindergarten area on the first floor.
Sujittra added that about 200 households near the school were also affected by the flood too. The school had to close for two to three days for the water level to decrease before they could return to class.
Sujittra said she has been working at the school for 30 years but hasn’t experienced any floods before, despite the school being located only 300 metres away from the canal.
Provincial officers investigating the water drainage system informed Sujittra that sand from the MRT construction site flowed under the sewer and blocked the waterway.
The construction company also changed the direction of the drainage system near Soi Thiwanon 14. The newly installed water pipes were clogged with materials from the building site and it didn’t let the water flow.
Today, the Provincial Governor of Nonthaburi province, Sujin Chaichumsak, informed the media that he acknowledged all of the problems and ordered the construction company to solve them as soon as possible.
Sujin insisted that the construction company drained away the water from the school and community by midnight. If not, the project would be postponed until the problem is fixed.
Samarn Pichakorn School will be closed for the rest of the week. Sujittra said that she didn’t know when it would reopen.
The MRT Pink Line is the responsibility of the Mass Transit Authority of Thailand. The line includes 30 stations from Nonthaburi Civic Centre in Nonthaburi province to the Min Buri district of Bangkok.
The project is under construction and trial. Some stations are expected to be in service in February next year and the whole line will be fully operational by July next year.
