When it rains, the pond fills up. It is unable to retain the water flowing upstream from Sg.Semenyih
Since 2014, Taman Semenyih Indah residents have been anxious whenever it rains as they could be hit by flash floods.
Resident Nagendran Raj Subramaniam, 48, said this happened because the retention pond near Jalan Semenyih Indah 15 was unable to cope with the volume of water flowing in from Sungai Semenyih, leading to flash floods inundating the eight houses near the pond.
In May last year, water from the retention pond broke its banks and rose as high as 0.9m.
"It happened so fast, we had no time to save our belongings," said Nagendran, adding that efforts to salvage his possessions were futile.
Mohd Farhan Abdullah, 34, meanwhile, estimated his losses at RM20,000. Farhan managed to get financial help to refurnish his house but the father of three said the experience had caused his neighbour to move out.
Recently, Farhan and his neighbours were rudely awakened in the pre-dawn hours by the flood alarm. Luckily, the water only flooded the streets but residents still had to get out of bed to move their vehicles and valuables to higher ground just in case.
Kajang municipal councillor Bryan Lai said the neighbourhood had been hit by floods four times this year alone and hoped the authorities would solve the problem.
He said residents in the housing estate have suffered greatly due to the ineffectiveness of the retention pond.
Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) Hulu Langat district engineer Kalaiselvam Velayudan said the recurring flods could be attributed to several factors, including extra rainfall, which has doubled from the previous year, and the gradual build up of silt due to increased development upstream.
Kalaiselvam said mitigation works to the retention pond started in June last year with the building of a 3m tall and 70m long gabion wall to retain incoming water.
Silt was also removed from the retention pond, deepening it to a depth of one meter.
Due to the complaints, Kalaiselvam said DID will lengthen the wall by another 30m and and remove more of the accumulated silt.
Work will begin next week and is expected to be completed in a month.
He said DID was in talks with the owner of a nearby oil palm plantation to allow DID to widen the outlet from the retention pond.
DID has issued notices to four developers whose project sites are located upstream, ordering them to clear their ponds and drains of sedimentation.
To ensure compliance, DID will carry out monthly inspections at these sites.
The developers will also have to submit a report of their respective project's irrigation plans every fortnight.
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