KenaSaman.com

Kuala Lumpur would have experienced a much worse flood compared with what happened on Tuesday evening if the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel system had not diverted water into its SMART water catchment areas in Sg Berembang and Taman Desa pond as well as its tunnel storage system.

According to a SMART spokesman, 1.2 million mcm (million cubic metre) was diverted into its respective ponds during the downpour which occurred on Tuesday afternoon.

“The downpour was so intense that it caused Sg Bunus to overflow causing floods in areas around Jalan Tun Razak, some parts of Jalan Semarak and Kampung Baru,’’ the spokesman said.

“Even Sg Gombak and Sg Klang, which are part of the SMART project’s storm water diversion, were overflowing — that was how heavy the rain was,’’ he said.

“We closed the tunnel for three hours to divert the water and that’s why areas like Masjid Jamek, Leboh Ampang, and Dataran Merdeka were spared,’’ added the spokesman.

He said Sg Bunus was not part of SMART’s mitigation area.

Tuesday afternoon’s heavy rain caused a massive gridlock in Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Semarak, and Kampung Baru.

“Since the SMART tunnel was opened in 2007, there has not been a serious flood like what happened on Tuesday,’’ he said.

Thousands of motorists heading home after work were stuck in traffic in many parts of the city due to the flash floods.

A group of children and three teachers had to be rescued from a nursery in Jalan Semarak.

When contacted, Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) director Mat Rahim Ismail said the rainfall recorded at the upstream of Sungai Bunus in the Air Panas (Setapak) rain gauge station was much higher than usual at 130mm per hour.

“Sg Bunus definitely cannot contain that much of rainwater,” he said, adding that the manageable level for rainfall for the river was 80 cubic meters per second.

“Usually the rainfall recorded is within 30-40mm per hour. However, on Tuesday afternoon, the rain was extremely heavy which caused the river to overflow causing the flash flood on Jalan Tun Razak,” he added.

However, Mat Rahim said they had long-term plans to upgrade Sg Bunus and they had already requested for funds from the Government.

“We have already called for a tender for two ponds and we will call for the third one soon,” he said.

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