Illegally installed electric cables were among the causes for the flash floods that paralysed the city recently.
These cables are installed in drains near commercial zones of areas including Jalan Changkat, Bukit Bintang, Alam Flora Sdn Bhd said.
Its chief executive Datuk Mohd Zain Hassan was quoted as saying in a report by Bernama, that such cables — including rubbish in drains — blocked the smooth flow of water.
What’s more disturbing is that Alam Flora employees risk electrocution by the old and soaked cables found in drains.
“This makes it difficult for us (Alam Flora) to carry out cleaning work and we have to collect the rubbish manually. “Our drain cleaning schedule is done only once a month, which means that when heavy rain occurs, water from the clogged drain will flow out and caused floods,” he was quoted as saying.
Heavy back to back thunderstorms culminated in a massive flash flood — dubbed by one news report as the ‘worst flash floods in 30 years’ —that partially submerged several areas in the city on May 12, resulting in traffic chaos that looks like this:
and this….
The flash flood was so bad at several spots, drivers were forced to abandon their submerged cars and head to higher ground as a safety precaution.
READ: Flash floods in KL: City Hall looking into flood-mitigation proposal
READ: Your car affected by the flash floods? Perodua wants to help you!
Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor reportedly apologised to residents of Kuala Lumpur, pinning the blame also to rubbish clogged drains and heavy rainfall.
