KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — City Hall advised KL folk to brace for more flash floods as the authorities do not have an immediate solution in sight.
While flash floods in the city have been going on for years, City Hall revealed yesterday that they have gone back to the drawing board to identify the causes of such floods.
Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib said City Hall had called for a meeting with various agencies including the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), Meteorological Department and Alam Flora in the aftermath of the flash floods on Wednesday.
Declining to reveal what was discussed, Ahmad Phesal said: “There have yet to be any plans on how to resolve flash floods in the city.”
“We have to study the problems in various locations in detail but we have not set a time frame for this.”
Ahmad Phesal said although the City Hall had embarked on several drain upgrading work in Kuala Lumpur, it still could not put an immediate end to the problem.
“The drainage upgrading work in Kampung Baru is almost completed with assistance from the DID but we still need to upgrade the drains in Jalan Stonor and Bukit Bintang and this will take time,” he said.
Ahmad Phesal said massive development projects in certain areas including Cheras, Jalan Duta and Pudu have contributed to flash floods in the city.
“The drains in these areas are often filled with construction waste and rainwater cannot be channeled into appropriate outlets especially during a downpour,” he said.
“We hope developers will be responsible in monitoring their sites by installing silt traps to ensure sediments do not flow into drains.”
Malay Mail reported that two construction sites were identified as a contributing factor to the flash floods and developers were slapped with RM50,000 fines each.
The Warisan Merdeka (KL118 Tower) project was fined for not maintaining its sediment basin. While another site at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre had problems with its interceptor and cut off drains.
City Hall director-general Datuk Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said flash floods in the city were unavoidable.
“We can’t avoid such floods as it is caused by the high intensity of rainfall,” he said.
“Even developed nations such as the US and China are helpless when they are hit by floods.”
Mohd Amin said although business operators were affected by the floods on Wednesday, he was confident it would not effect Kuala Lumpur’s status as a central business development district.
“I don’t think investors will leave KL because of the floods,” he said.
Mohd Amin said Kuala Lumpur is geographically located on low land and is prone to floods.
“This (flash floods) is one of the many natural disasters and no one can take action against City Hall if they suffer losses,” he said.
The flash floods on Wednesday affected many businesses and a number of vehicles were submerged in water during the incident.
In April last year, flash floods hit major roads in the city including Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Parlimen, Jalan Duta, Jalan Pudu, Jalan Cheras Lama, Jalan Chan Sow Lin and Jalan Segambut.
In December 2011, thigh-high floodwaters from Sungai Bunus cut off the traffic along Jalan Tun Razak.
The city came to a standstill during a massive flash flood in August 2008 which affected key areas including Jalan Mahameru, Jalan Bangsar, Jalan Tun Perak, Jalan Cheras, Jalan Sg Besi, Jalan Ampang and Jalan Kuching.
