Deputy Prime Minister Suvit Khunkitti is pushing ahead with plans to create a nationwide underground water tunnel network in Thailand.
Suvit, chairman of the national water committee, asked state agencies to complete surveys and conceptual designs. That work, expected to take until August 2004, will specify the area and budget needed to build the tunnel network or water grid to supply farmland with no access to irrigation canals. The water-grid scheme was mentioned at a national workshop on water management in July.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, with input from Suvit, floated the idea for an underground water pipeline as part of the government's attempt to wipe out floods and droughts by 2008.
Farmers would be allowed to run and maintain the system, including collecting water fees and electricity fees from users, Suvit said. However, some academics, water experts and Praphat Panyachartrak, minister of natural resources and environment, are not keen on the water grid. Praphat said he preferred conventional canals, which were cheaper to build.
Critics say the water tunnel network is costly and hard to run.
