DRAINAGE upgrading at Taman Melawis in Klang, Selangor, to instal wider concrete U-drains is at 70%.
Klang Municipal Council (MPK) Engineering Department director Zamri Othman said the works are expected to be completed by the end of August.
Heavy machinery at the monsoon drain in Taman Melawis, Klang, parallel to the rail tracks. — Photos: KK SHAM/The Star
The upgrading is part of a flood mitigation project to enable better diversion of excess surface runoff during heavy rain that lasts between two and three hours.
“Our engineers suggested wider drains to increase surface runoff storage which is a feasible solution,” said Zamri.
“Workers are in the midst of installing the precast concrete U-drains,” he said.
Apart from Taman Melawis, he said the project also involves Lintang Besi and Jalan Besi.
“For the earth-cut drain parallel to Lintang Besi, our workers will raise the 24.46m long embankment on the side fence of a terrace house with crushed stones.
“It will be cemented to prevent erosion or seepage of water into the terrace house,” he said.
The other flood mitigation works in Taman Melawis, Zamri added, included the construction of a concrete diversion culvert under a rail track and the widening of a monsoon drain at the end of Jalan Besi.
Workers constructing wider drains along Lintang Besi in Taman Melawis to accommodate more rainwater.
A Selangor Drainage and Irrigation Department spokesperson, when contacted by StarMetro, said the project was on schedule, while work on the concrete diversion culvert involving micro-tunnelling would start soon.
This project in Jalan Tepi Sungai, he added, would help to channel rainwater into Sungai Klang.
Several residents from Taman Melawis told StarMetro they were anxious for the project to be completed soon.
Resident Kardel Singh, a retired internal auditor who has lived there for 53 years, was grateful that MPK was addressing the drainage problem.
Housewife Tan Meng Choo, hoped MPK would also build a concrete drain along the back portion of her house.
RK Singam, a former marine engineer, said the project needed to be completed soon because the area was prone to floods.
“We hope the use of heavy machinery is done in a safe manner due to the construction site’s proximity to the houses.
“We do not want any structural damage to any of the houses here,” he said.
