Chiang Mai Municipality started a major cleanup on Monday as the huge flood that paralysed the northern city began draining off.
Tractors and water trucks were deployed to help workers remove the thick alluvial sediment from areas around three bridges crossing the Ping River, Naowarat, Nakhon Ping and Rattanakosin. Other crews and volunteers continued to supply food and drinking water to houses still cut off by floodwater.
The Chiang Mai Municipality advised drivers some sections of seven main roads were still closed, including Chang Khlan and Charoen Prathet, which are popular tourist and business areas.
The depth of the Ping River continued to drop, registering 3.85 metres at the Naowarat monitoring station at 10am, down from 4.23 metres at 1am and 4 metres at 6am. The Ping reached an historic peak of 5.3 metres on Saturday night.
Kuakul Manasamphansakul, the Chiang Mai Irrigation Office director, said on Monday the levels of the Rim and Taeng rivers and of the Ping in Chiang Dao district had also dropped. This was seen as a positive sign of the situation in the city.
"The Ping is receding at four or five centimetres an hour," the official said. This trend indicated the river could soon fall below the critical point.
The Rim and Taeng are tributaries of the Ping and supply water to northern Chiang Mai.
