A public hearing on the controversial water retention project to prevent flooding in southern Yala city has been put on hold amid growing protests by community leaders and environmentalists.

The Water Resource Department on Monday announced the cancellation of the hearing for the Phru Lan Kwai scheme that was planned for Wednesday in Muang district, several media outlets reported.

The public hearing would have heard opinions and details from local residents, other groups expected to be affected and local officials.

The department wants to use 15,000 rai of land in Raman district of Yala and Thung Yang Daeng district of adjoining Pattani to hold flood water from the Pattani River and save Yala city from inundation.

Phru Lan Kwai is part of the Sai Buri River basin and is a Ramsar site, a wetland area recognised as being of international importance, rich in resources for farming, fishing and livestock.

The Pattani River flows past Yala municipality and through the downtown area of neighbouring Pattani before emptying into the Gulf of Thailand.

Villagers, religious leaders and environmentalists have sent strong messages to the state opposing the project on the grounds it would ruin the lives of local farmers and fishermen and also damage the ecosystem.

Their latest protest action was on Monday, when about 150 residents, human rights defenders, environmentalists, academics and civic networks signed a statement demanding the government reconsider the project.

“We all understand that finding a way to prevent flooding is crucial. But it should not mean a burden will be shifted from one group to another,” the statement said. A copy was posted on the prachathai.com website.

On Friday, religious leaders had led villagers in organising a muslim ceremony in the area, to send a message that local people did not want their land used to store the excess water.

Villages in the Sai Buri River basin rely on the land and the swamp in Phru Lan Kwai for rice farming, freshwater fishing and herding cattle, benefitting from the nutrients brought downstream by the river.

“If a water retainer is built here, all arable land will be gone,” Nurmah Damii, a villager from Thung Yang Daeng district of Pattani, told The Reporters during an online forum on Monday.

“We all grew up learning to be livestock and rice farmers, and fishermen. What will become of our lives when, all of a sudden, a water retention project arrives?” Ms Damii said.