Selangor infrastructure and public amenities, agriculture modernisation and agro-based industry committee chairman Izham Hashim. - Filepic/The Star
CONSTRUCTION works for flood mitigation worth RM14.6mil under the Shah Alam City Council’s (MBSA) Shah Alam Sustainable Urban Drainage Master Plan (SAsud) to upgrade the drainage networks as well as build pump houses around Shah Alam, is expected to start soon.
Selangor infrastructure and public amenities, agriculture modernisation and agro-based industry committee chairman Izham Hashim said a number of structural and non-structural mitigation measures will be implemented in phases to improve the flow of surface run-off and lessen the impact of floods.
“MBSA is the first local authority to implement the SAsud flood mitigation plan. It will involve widening main existing drains to be able to cope with the volume of surface runoff. Drainage designs that have been discussed at length will be able to serve for five decades.
“People must understand that climate change is affecting the weather patterns. Our intervention cannot stop heavy rain or high tides but lessen the impact of floods,” he said after the launch of the SAsud project at Persiaran Budiman, Section 25, Taman Seri Muda.
Izham added that the project involves four flood mitigation works: upgrading pumps and related infrastructure works in Sections 13 and U1; building a pump house in Persiaran Aman and related infrastructure works in Taman Sri Muda, Section 25; building a pump house in Jalan Saksama 25/29
and Jalan Hikmat 25/35 and related infrastructure works in Section 25 as well as repairing and upgrading the sewerage system and related works in parts of Kampung Bukit Naga, Section 32.
“Currently, we have temporary pumps put up along Sungai Klang at the end of Jalan Khidmat 25/35.
Contractors are sourcing for the permanent pumps and it will take six months. While waiting for the pumps, works will begin to widen the drains and build the pump house,” he said.
He added that MBSA will also upgrade the ponds to accommodate excessive flood waters if it rains for long hours and the council would add scupper drains to channel surface runoff into the main drains.
“We are also glad that the SAsud plan will be able to complement the Irrigation and Drainage Department’s flood mitigation systems that use artificial intelligence concept,” he said.
Izham added that SAsud covers 30 projects in the first phase while the second phase has 19 projects that will be carried out over three years, where will begin in Taman Seri Muda.
Also present at the event were Klang MP V. Ganabatirau, Shah Alam MP Azli Yusof and MBSA mayor Dr Nor Fuad Abdul Hamid.
Taman Sri Muda was one of the worst-hit areas in Shah Alam during the Dec 2021 floods which displaced over 14,000 people. Much of the area was submerged for days after the heavy rainfall on Dec 17 and 18, resulting in the death of more than a dozen people and causing millions of ringgit in damages to families and businesses.
