Perak MB urges Drainage and Irrigation Department to conduct flood study

TELUK INTAN, Nov 30 — The state government wants the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) to conduct a comprehensive study to address the flood problems that frequently hit the Lower Perak district, said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir.

He said a thorough study was needed given that several methods and planning that had been identified could be implemented to avoid the recurrence of floods.

“Among the methods identified are deepening the Sungai Bidor and building a good quality embankment that is higher than the river water level,” he told reporters after visiting flood victims at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Changkat Jong evacuation centre here today.

He said these were among the proposed remedial measures that were submitted by DID, which however needed a big allocation.

The floods that occurred in Lower Perak district here were not only caused by river water spillage from the district itself but also due to those rivers downstream in the Batang Padang district, he said.

“The allocation from DID alone is insufficient to ensure it can be implemented in a comprehensive way. We want to do it on a long-term basis and not only when it floods,” he said.

The flood was the second that hit the Changkat Jong area within two weeks after the banks of the Sungai Bidor broke due to heavy rain and water spillage to settlement areas.

On November 14, 56 victims from 16 families at Lorong Mesra here were forced to evacuate.

Meanwhile in Ipoh, Lower Perak District Civil Defence Department officer Mohd Fazly Mohamad Zawawi said the number of flood victims in Changkat Jong near here had decreased to 192 at present from 243 yesterday afternoon.

Only those placed at Lorong Mesra in Batu 7 were still not allowed to return home as the flood waters had yet to subside, he said when contacted by Bernama here today.

He said work to pump out water from Lorong Mesra area to Sungai Bidor was being carried by DID this afternoon.

The Sungai Bidor water level near the affected areas had also subsided to 2.88m from 3.16m yesterday afternoon, he said. — Bernama