Erosion at Puchong pond getting worse

THE soil erosion at the lake edge near Taman Mutiara Puchong has become worse and the residents want action taken immediately.

The problem was highlighted in StarMetro on July 17 last year but nothing has been done to tackle the problem.

“Now, after six months of consistent downpour, the soil has eroded further into the lake. Large crevasses have appeared up to the perimeter fencing,” resident Gerard Lim said.

He is worried that the problem may worsen in the coming months.

“The residents hope that the developer and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) can respond positively with a permanent measure to rectify the problem and not wait for a bigger problem to happen,” he said.

The developer, when contacted in November, said the land at the side of the pond does not belong to them.

“The chain link fence represents the demarcation line between Mutiara Puchong and the other people’s land.

“We have surrendered the lake edge area (which was landscaped earlier) to the local council. Hence, it does not belong to us and neither does the pond.

“Since the land belongs to another party, technically, we cannot be held responsible for erosion control on their land,” it said in a statement.

However, the developer was keen to address the problem by constructing a couple of sumps at the affected area.

“Whenever it rains, the water will find a natural course to flow. In this particular case, the rain happened to flow from the landscaped area into the pond. Over time, this had created the erosion of the lake edge.

“We can collect the water into a sump and then channel the water through pipes directly into the pond. This will prevent the rainwater from causing further scouring of the slopes of the pond,” the developer’s statement said.

MPSJ councillor Chang Kim Loong told StarMetro recently that he was aware of the issue.

“I have submitted an official letter to the council to highlight the erosion problem, as well as the incident two months ago where fish in the lake died suddenly.

“Some said the fish died because of discharge from a nearby factory, while some said it was due to the change in the water temperature.

“The MPSJ will carry out investigation on these matters.

“I will drop by the MPSJ today to see what can be done to solve these problems,” he said.