Shah Alam residential area now disaster zone

Cracks have appeared in one of the houses while the retaining wall is on the verge of collapsing

SHAH ALAM: A stretch of road in a residential area in Shah Alam has been declared a disaster zone following a sinkhole that threatened to pull down several houses.

Twelve families in Jalan Plumbum 7/101A have been ordered to move out after the Petaling District declared the area "Level 1 Disaster Zone."

A portion of a retaining wall behind the houses has collapsed. Cracks could also be seen on several houses.

District Officer Datuk Mohd Misri Idris declared the area disaster zone at 10pm Thursday after a site inspection.

According to the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department, a resident made a report to the station around 4.30pm about the collapsed wall.

All 12 families residing within the disaster area have been relocated to nearby hotels by the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS).

Mohd Idris said remedial works could take up to four months.

This is not the first time the Jalan Plumbum has been affected by soil movement, Residents said the latest occurence was the worst yet.

Previously, PKNS had also engaged geo-technical consultants, including the IKRAM Group Sdn Bhd to study the area's underground soil movements after an earlier incident in 2012.