Cabinet approves water command centre

The cabinet is expected to approve the formation of a water management command centre on Tuesday, spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinsawat said on Sunday.

The command centre is sanctioned by Section 24 of the 2018 Water Act, which calls for the set-up of a central coordinating unit to oversee water-related crises. It will be chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, in the hope of improving the government’s responses to water crisis management, she said.

Ms Narumon said the centre’s tasks will mainly revolve around four areas — forecasting, public warning and communication, management and administration. As drought conditions continue, the navy is prepared to send boats to help push out salty sea water from inland rivers where seawater intrusion has been detected, according to Vice Admiral Prachachart Sirisawat, deputy chief-of-staff of the Royal Thai Navy.

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