340 TOLD TO LEAVE LANDSLIDE-HIT AREA
340 TOLD TO EVACUATE: Resident says it’s the first such incident in Taman Idaman
SOME 340 residents of Taman Idaman in Serendah were instructed to evacuate following a major landslide in the wee hours yesterday.
Hulu Selangor police chief Superintendent R. Supramaniam said the area surrounding the landslide had been declared a “Red Zone” and residents were given until 1.45pm yesterday to vacate the housing area.
The Red Zone spans a 600m radius around the landslide area, including four blocks of terrace houses.
Supramaniam said the affected residents would be temporarily placed at SRA Serendah, less than 1km from the scene.
He said preliminary investigations showed that the landslide, which produced a 7m-deep sinkhole, was triggered by water movement from a nearby hill.
“Heavy rain in the past few days contributed to the irregular water volume. There were no pipe leakages as claimed by certain quarters.
“There is water movement. The Public Works Department (PWD) is assessing the affected area and will produce a report in four days. PWD’s technical team said it needed between seven and 10 days to fix the road.”
Supramaniam said the Welfare Department would transfer the residents to a more comfortable area while waiting for the green light to go home.
A resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he lived in Taman Idaman since it was opened in the 1990s, and this was the first time such an incident had occurred.
“This area is surrounded by old tin mines. When the developer developed it, they covered the mines but there was no proper drainage system, and the water movement in the soil finally took its toll on the land,” he said.
He added that he would move out of the neighbourhood as he felt it was not safe anymore.
As of 9.30pm, PWD contractors had begun strengthening cliffs at the landslide area.
Hulu Selangor member of parliament P. Kamalanathan said the process would take two days.
“There is still water movement underground (from the nearby hill) but the contractors will strengthen the soil to avoid things from getting worse,” he said during his second visit to the area yesterday.
A tractor and piling machine were also at the scene at 9pm.
Kamalanathan thanked the authorities for their work on the affected area and commended their professionalism and effectiveness in handling the incident. Page 1 pic: Fire and Rescue Department personnel at the scene of the landslide in Taman Idaman, Serendah.