‘Clogged drains caused flooding in parts of KL’

PETALING JAYA: The flash floods which hit parts of Kuala Lumpur on Sunday were partly due to the city’s clogged drains caused by construction projects.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said there are many development projects in the city and not all can be monitored constantly.

“I spoke to the mayor and we will take action to ensure all clogged drains are cleared to ensure this doesn’t happen,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Khalid added the rain on Sunday was rather heavy, but the current drainage system is able to handle such downpours.

“The design of the system can withstand flooding as the system has been upgraded.

“What we need is to monitor construction sites constantly and we may even think of stringent measures to be taken against errant contractors if their work damages or clogs drains.”

Meanwhile, Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) has clarified that the picture of a car partially submerged in floodwaters in a tunnel on Sunday was not at the SMART tunnel.

It said the car was trapped in the tunnel leading from Jalan Tun Razak to the KLCC car park.

SMART said at 5.49pm on Sunday, it had received a signal from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage to close the SMART tunnel to traffic due to the heavy rain and to enable the SMART Mode 3 activation, whereby the road was cleared and closed to traffic.

“Mode 3 is the status used to indicate that the SMART tunnel is being operated to divert excessive water from Sungai Klang and Sungai Ampang away from the SMART coverage areas to avert flooding.The tunnel was reopened to traffic at 7.35pm later that day.”