THE writing has been on the wall since the turn of the millennium (or even earlier) – that global weather patterns have been disrupted by global warming – which makes the song “Snow in Summer” by British alternative rock band The Cure likely to become a reality sooner rather than later.
Therefore, blaming yesterday’s (March 7) massive flash floods “to unusual heavy rainfall of up to half a month’s rain in just two hours” is more of a lame excuse by the authorities to hide their failure.
“The floods were caused by unusually heavy rains over a period of two hours, causing the existing drainage system to be unable to contain the high water flow capacity,” Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man told the media at the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) control centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday..
“… rain is now unpredictable, usually the monsoon season is at the end of the year, but now we are seeing rain falling in March. Usually in March, there is a drought.”
It is due to the unpredictability nature of today’s weather that the authorities need to come up with instant-cum-simple measures that can swiftly contain the incident of flash flooding.
According to Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias, his ministry is taking the matter seriously as flash floods occurred in several areas after only two hours of continuous rain.
“Although it happened rather rapidly – to me – it should not be used as an excuse to blame any party. Therefore, we must have a further discussion with DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) to identify the best solutions to solve this problem in the short-, middle- and long-term,” he pointed out in a statement. “In addition, I will also respond to this issue at the Dewan Rakyat imminently.”
This is surely not the time to point fingers but banking on billion-ringgit long-term solutions like building of embankments and dykes alone would not help as they take time to construct.
By then, the whole of Klang Valley would already become the “The Lost City of Atlantis”!
Curb excessive development, littering
One of the more urgent measures that can be considered is to beef up action to curb haphazard developments, especially those that encroaches into water catchment areas (including recreational parks).
This is where Federal Territories Ministry and DBKL have to be more selective – or not to be blinded by money to bluntly put it – when approving high-density, high-rise development projects.
Lack of civic-consciousness among the Klang Valley populace is also a concern given that excessive littering is also a contributor to flash flood incidents following revelation by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Kuala Lumpur (JPSKL) in the aftermath of the Dec 18 floods, that alarming heaps of garbage had blocked drains in the Federal capital.
In a Facebook post, the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) noted that areas in the city centre including Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Ampang, Jalan Leboh Ampang, Jalan Raja Laut, Jalan Kia Peng and Jalan Raja Chulan were inundated yesterday.
Elsewhere, the floods affected several areas including Sunway Velocity Mall, Jalan Tasek Selatan, Kesas Highway (near Awan Naik), the Bukit Jalil police station, Jalan Chan Sow Lin, Salak Selatan, Bukit Jalil Highway and MRR2 near Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS).
Aside from a big number of vehicles being submerged under quick rising floodwater, some 251 flood victims from two villages were evacuated to the relief centres (PPS) at Dewan Sultan Sulaiman in Kampung Baru and Sekolah Kebangsaan Tamil (SKT) Saraswati in Jalan Klang Lama as of 7pm on Monday (March 7). – March 8, 2022
Main photo credit: The Vibes
