The Cause Of The Flash Flood In KL
People say "A Picture Tells A Thousand Words"
Yet words tells a vivid story of how things are. I can attest to the description attached below having worked before at the Masjid Jamek LRT viccinity, just by the Standard Chartered Bank. Seeing with my own eyes that the Star LRT Station is actually blocking the flow of water during a downpour. As seen in the picture above, the station platform is actually blocking the water level at the river ( also notice the cracked tile just above the water level). Oh no! what "great design" by the civil engineering firm building this station. Couldn't they have used a little bit more concrete and built the station by 3 metres higher. I bet that wouldn't even cost 5% more than the original cost. Any way do read the following posting for more background information...
The contributing cause of the flood could not have been better explained by Mr H.J. Angus from
http://malaysiawatch2.blogspot.com/2007/06/kl-flooding-you-cant-stop-telling-lies.html
KL Flooding. You Can't Stop Telling Lies.....
Once you tell one lie it is very difficult to stop telling more lies to cover the first lie.
Mistakes are similar in that fashion. If you make a basic mistake and do not correct that error but try to cover it up with other activities, more often than not the cost of correcting the basic mistake is very complex and can cost a hundred times more.
The frequent flooding in KL in recent years, especially near the town center has been caused by the construction of the LRT Station near the Masjid Jamek mosque. The station takes up at least 3 meters of space inside the river and across the entire width; thereby causing an artificial barrier that reduces the flow capacity by at least 30%.
This error is known to the authorities but instead of changing the design of the station so that the full river capacity is restored, they embarked on that SMART Tunnel project so that 95% of the river can be diverted in the future.
If you look at the KL map(click for a clearer view), the LRT station is built just north of Jalan Tun Perak. I expect the Sungei Klang will overflow at the station obstruction and since the surrounding area is low-lying, the spillover is going to quickly reach Merdeka Square and upstream of that river.
The RM6billion budget to build numerous ponds and deepening of river and installing more pumping stations may alleviate the floods but I feel they should spend the money to redo that LRT station that is the basic cause of the floods.
Once the station is clear of the river, I estimate the flooding frequency in KL will be reduced to perhaps once every 10 years. Other flood alleviation measures like desilting would not cost billions but a few million each year.
If you are a KL resident, you could capture the flood happenings at the Masjid Jamek station the next time it rains heavily and post to YouTube. (Good idea Mr Angus, KL folks please help to YouTube it...)
Map: Thanks to http://www.leeds.ac.uk/international/images/KL_Office_Map.jpg
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