Rainfall, beyond the normal levels, causes the water levels in rivers to rise and in some cases, the cities too get flooded. Such cases have become all the more common in recent times. Perhaps this was inevitable considering the rapid pace of urbanization and the attendant deforestation to make way for the high rises. Tree plantation and a farm project to grow vegetables and fruits can perhaps set the ball rolling for correcting the reasons that have led to ecological imbalance in the cities. The rise in the frequency of natural disasters hitting the cities bears a testimony to the fact. Such a step would help people in battening the hatches to guard against natural calamities such as floods. As flooding in Bangkok becomes an annual occurrence, a farm project is soon to be implemented as one of the measures to guard against the dangers that are associated with natural disasters.
The farm project
The project is a brainchild of the famed architect Singh Intrachooto. The project, for its obvious attempt at establishing an ecological balance for common good of the people, has been acknowledged by Holcim. The Switzerland based organization holds a worldwide contest to honor ingenious projects that can help preserve the environment. The farm project, which would see an investment of a little over 1.6 million US dollars, will take an area of 16,000 square meter under cultivation.
Results it seeks to achieve
The project aims at preparing the city for ensuring that the food supplies chain does not suffer even when the city is flooded and the external supplies are cut-off due to obvious reasons. The project does not serve as a pit that only devours the money that is being poured into it, as it often happens in the case of projects that are meant to ward off potential problems. It can be expected to be a money spinner even during normal circumstances, as the produce would in any case find a place in the regional markets. In order to ensure proper irrigation to the area, the canals leading to the farm, which have been lying clogged for years, will now require cleaning. The same is advocated even for the drainage system of the city as a whole to avoid water-logging and the inevitable flooding.
It is a well known fact that deforestation leads to soil erosion. The concomitant loss of water retention capacity of the soil is also a given. Rain water, therefore, is not absorbed as it happens in the case of forested land. An attempt to give the city a patch of green in the form of a farm project is thus a welcome move. It is also expected to help the problem of ever rising mercury levels, which is an attendant impact of the lack of green spaces in a city.
The success of the project is likely to give fillip to the idea of the farm project as a sustainable business model. This will spawn more projects along similar lines. These will serve as a protective shield against natural calamities that manifest themselves in even more dangerous forms when the natural assets that serve as a cover against these calamities are fiddled with.
Via: Bangkokpost
