Authorities knew Taman Sri Muda deluge was coming, say residents

 

Andrew De Silva shows a copy of one of the letters the residents association has sent that has gone unanswered.

SHAH ALAM: The flood that ravaged Taman Sri Muda a week ago was inevitable and residents have been warning the authorities about it since 2019.

Much of the area was submerged for days after the heavy rainfall of Dec 17 and 18, resulting in the death of more than a dozen people and causing millions of ringgit in damages to families and businesses.

There have been yearly floods in the area since 2019, but this year’s deluge was the worst. Residents believe overdevelopment in the surrounding areas is to blame, and they have said so in letters they have been relentlessly sending to the relevant authorities.

“We have written letters, but unfortunately there has been no response from the city council, our assemblyman or from the DID (irrigation and drainage department) director,” said Andrew De Silva, chairman of the Taman Sri Muda Zone D residents association.

“This should not have happened. If they had pre-planned from 2019 and gotten the director at that time to find the best solution, we would not be suffering like this.”

He and other committee members showed FMT the various letters they had presented to the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) and addressed to various parties, which were stamped and signed in recognition of their receipt.

Anbarasan Many, treasurer of the association, said developers of the surrounding areas had taken the easy route regarding flood mitigation, piggybacking onto Taman Sri Muda’s existing drainage system rather than building new retention ponds and drain networks.

Anbarasan Many accuses developers of funnelling water into Taman Sri Muda’s drainage system.

“They took the easy way out,” he said. “They sent water from the surrounding housing areas to (Taman) Sri Muda. That is why we have a tremendous flow of water coming in from other tamans.”

De Silva said somebody would have to take responsibility for the situation.

“For a developer to put the water into another area, he must get some approval first. So the question comes back to the authorities, whether that’s MBSA, the planning department, the engineering department, DID or the works department.

“The signatures come from the authorities. So we want the authorities to be responsible for this.”

De Silva in discussion with a Taman Sri Muda resident.

The residents association has called for the following three main courses of action to stop the constant flooding and prevent another disaster:

• Channels that lead to Taman Sri Muda’s drainage network must be shut.
• The retention pond used to store excess water that cannot be released into the Klang River must be better maintained and dug more deeply.
• The drains in the area must be restored and updated.

Residents said many of the drains were no longer capable of handling the current volumes of water or were not lined with concrete, leading to silt buildup in the retention pond, shrinking its capacity.

One of the main outlets bringing water from upstream into Taman Sri Muda’s drainage network.

They said these issues had been communicated to the authorities on several occasions.

“Residents who have lived here for over 30 years have given up,” Anbarasan said. “They want to move out. Some already have. If this goes on, (Taman) Sri Muda will become a ghost town.”

FMT has contacted MBSA and DID for their comments. - FMT