KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Pictures of the alleged flooding of the SMART tunnel that went viral yesterday were untrue, said Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad.

He said the SMART tunnel management would issue a statement about the floods allegedly occurring in the tunnel yesterday.

Yesterday, Bernama published pictures and a report of a man who escaped via car window as flood water gushed into a road tunnel near Jalan Tun Razak heading towards KLCC (and not at SMART tunnel as alleged in viral messages).

In a related matter, Khalid said that his ministry would think of appropriate next course of action against contractors found guilty of clogging up the drainage system.

"The flash flood which engulfed parts of KL yesterday was in part due to the city’s clogged drainage system, caused by development construction works,” said Khalid to the media at the Parliament lobby here today.

He said the ministry would monitor and supervise the construction sites more closely so that flash floods around Kuala Lumpur could be addressed.

"Our problem is that we have several ongoing development projects and difficult for us to monitor for 24 hours. In fact, I have met and discussed the issue with mayor Datuk Hisham Ahmad Dahlan at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

"We will take action to determine all clogging issues will be dealt with, and to ensure contractors to carry out their works properly to prevent the clogged drains,” he said. — Bernama