KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 20 vehicle owners whose vehicles were submerged in the flash flood incident that occurred in Precinct 11, Putrajaya yesterday, each received RM1,000 in assistance, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
The minister said the Putrajaya Corporation would also create an interim parking lot that would accommodate about 200 vehicles as a short-term remedy and added that she had also asked the Putrajaya Corporation to complete it within two weeks.
"In addition, I asked the Putrajaya Corporation to provide a warning system with the use of sirens and warnings to residents in the area to move their vehicles immediately.
"This can be done by using the Internet of Things (IoT) where sensors will be installed in drainage maintenance compartments throughout Putrajaya to detect the water level," she said in a statement on her Facebook page today.
Dr Zaliha said she was informed of the flash flood incident while she was in Labuan on official assignment and the incident was the first time that flash flood had occurred in the area due to the high rainfall, which was three times the usual rainfall recorded.
"It was reported that 20 vehicles were damaged as a result of this flash flood. This residential area is quite large. There are about 2,500 houses with an estimated population of around 10,000 people," said Zaliha when she visited the affected area today.
She said the cause of the flood had been identified, namely the impact of heavy rain upstream and water rising from Sungai Anak Gajah, causing the water flow to be blocked due to the water overflowing in the lower areas.
"The water flow in this residential area uses a culvert system. Despite its large area, but in uncertain weather conditions, the sudden heavy rain caused it to be unable to accommodate the capacity of the large volume of water flow," she said.
She said in the long term, the ministry will work closely with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) to review the drainage system.
If it is found that it is indeed unable to accommodate, action will be taken to improve so as to prevent the same thing from happening again.
Dr Zaliha hoped that more advanced systems for new developments would be explored, such as the concept of sponge city, on-site stormwater detention (OSD) or underground reservoirs but it would require careful study before being implemented as a new development policy in Putrajaya.– BERNAMA