Tak’s rising waters put dams at risk, residents urged to seek high ground

Severe rainfall in Tak province caused a mass influx of water into reservoirs, exceeding their storage capacity and raising concerns over potential dam breaches. The deputy governor has ordered immediate action to prevent further erosion and expansion due to Tak flooding, urging residents to quickly move their belongings to higher ground.

Heavy rainfall in Tak province today resulted in a significant amount of water flooding low-lying areas and a major surge into the water storage areas, reaching their full storage capacity.

Deputy Governor, Veeraphan Dee-on, along with Sompong Fungtweevong, the District Chief Officer of Mueang Tak, were dispatched to inspect and command the situation following a report from Wanchai Choeichu, the Subdistrict Headman of Pong Daeng.

They found the Charalad Rang reservoir in the fourth village of Pong Daeng, Mueang Tak, which is an earth dam with a water capacity of approximately 1 million cubic metres, displaying signs of leakage on the east side of the dam crest.

As a result, water was seen leaking out from the other side, raising the fear of further erosion and potential dam breakage, echoing the incident in 2006, which could impact the residents of three villages, namely villages 4, 5, and 6 in Pong Daeng, Mueang Tak, and residents in Lai Hoi, Sukhothai, which is adjacent.

Initially, the deputy governor of Tak ordered the provincial irrigation department to urgently repair the leakage of the reservoir to prevent further erosion, which could lead to potential disaster.

Alongside this, they rushed to drain the water to reduce the level as it was still raining, and water from the mountains continued to flow into the reservoir.

Despite the water overflowing the spillway, residents downstream were urged to quickly move their belongings to higher ground and be prepared for potential flooding situations, reported KhaoSod.

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