YESTERDAY’S (Dec 8) flash floods at Precinct 11 (Zon 4A) of Putrajaya which left some 20 cars partly submerged has set tongues wagging among netizens on a potential recurrence which can potentially paralyse the entire government administrative system.
“Babe, this is Putrajaya after just an hour of downpour. If it rains heavily for days, I dare not fathom what it would be like,” a supposedly cat lover Meowny (@syazmnnn) penned on her X account
“Kelantan bertahun-tahun banjir apa yang Kerajaan Negeri buat?”
Babe, this is Putrajaya after hujan lebat sejam. Sejam je tau, kalau hujan lebat berhari-hari I tak tahulah apa rupa dia. pic.twitter.com/FHC0owiFw4
— Meowny (@syazmnnn) December 8, 2024
A commenter stressed the need to have proper flood mitigation strategies/infrastructure in place instead of coming out with ad-hoc prevention measures year in and year out as stipulated under the National Security Council’s (MKN) Directive #20 and or as per the National Disaster Management Policy and Mechanism guidelines.
Another found it funny that while it was inevitable for PAS-ruled Kelantan to be flooded due to continuous rainfall for two to three days, an hour or two downpour is enough to cause flooding in Putrajaya”.
One even cheekily remarked “Seri Perdana (the Prime Minister’s official residence) becoming like a floating mosque following a week-long rain”.
Another commenter noted that he could not imagine his car “getting submerged in Putrajaya just because on an hour-long downpour” to which the poster shared a photo that “flood waters have subsided but surely the car floor carpet of effected cars would be wet”.
One commenter who is an architect in his late 50’s reminisced about how Putrajaya during the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first premiership stint “used the most advanced calculations to design the water drainage system”.
Moreover, he doubted Precinct 11 which is in the vicinity of the Botanical Garden/wetlands with “many huge reservoirs” could be flooded unless “the drainage is clogged/not properly maintained” which he cynically reckoned “is the fault of foreign workers 😉”
Against the backdrop of one netizen reporting that her husband “has been hospitalised after having fallen from his motorbike due to the flash floods”, few commenters started to take to task Putrajaya MP who happens to be Bersatu vice-president Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Jidin.
As per a Bernama report, Putrajaya Federal Territory Fire and Rescue Department director Abdul Manaf Che Isa said two fire engines with 13 firefighters were dispatched to the affected area for monitoring following an emergency call at 4.44pm yesterday (Dec 8).
He said the firefighters managed to clear blocked drains and divert the floodwaters.
“Flooding receded at 5.30pm,” he told Bernama, adding that the area is being monitored via CCTV with the cooperation of the Putrajaya Command Centre. – Dec 9, 2024
