January 24, 1999
INDUSTRY B5bn sought to stem land subsidence But science ministry opposes the project Kanittha Inchukul The Industry Ministry plans to request nearly five billion baht from the Environment Fund to "recharge" aquifer storage to stem land subsidence after failing to control ground water consumption by industry in crisis areas. Deputy Industry Minister Preecha Laohapongchana wants to use the money to build 50 stations in Bangkok and surrounding provinces to inject water underground in an attempt to prop up the land. Each station will cost about 95 million baht while the operational cost is about a million baht a day. The Mineral Resources Department (MRD) says clean surplus water during the rainy season will be pumped into ground water layers. But the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP) at the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, which administers the fund, has been reluctant to go along with the project. "A feasibility study must be undertaken before a decision is made due to the high investment cost. We have found that the subsidence rate has declined," said science permanent secretary Santhad Somchivita. Overuse of ground water is the main cause of land subsidence, and industry is the main user. A survey last year found that there were 33,995 factories in Bangkok and surrounding provinces. Together they have used 1.5 million cubic metres (cu/m) out of 2.5 million cu/m of water pumped from underground aquifers each year in recent years. Officials said the capacity of Bangkok aquifers to supply ground water was about a million cu/m a day. But water pumped up should be less than capacity to prevent land subsidence. Overconsumption of ground water led to the promulgation of the Ground Water Act in 1978 to try to impose some control but it was in vain. During 1978-88, land in Bangkok sank more than 70 centimetres. The worst affected area was Ramkhamhaeng which sank 85.3 cms and now is four cms below mean sea level. Because of the seriousness of the situation, the cabinet issued a resolution in March 1983 to impose stringent controls on designated "crisis areas". In the same year, the MRD began charging the consumption of ground water from industries in an attempt to discourage its use. But the measure failed because the price charged for ground water was much less than that for alternative sources of water. For example, the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) recently privatised a water plant in Pathum Thani to serve residents and industrial plants. However, factories continued to pump up water from artesian wells because it cost only 3.5 baht for each cu/m compared to 21 baht charged by the water company. This situation has led the PWA to urge the MRD to prohibit factories in its service areas from using ground water. But the initiative has run into stiff opposition from the Federation of Thai Industries.		Temple in conflict  Bangkok Post Year-end Economic Review Classifieds Jobs Property Entertainment Investment Education Travel Sales Learn English Weekly Database Horizons Motoring NiteOwl Real Time Student Weekly Special We Care Street Art Back Issues Last Month Archive Company Servcies Subscriptions Advertising Annual Report
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