Dams in Ulu Kelantan will help avert floods downstream

KOTA BARU: To prevent floods from recurring in Kelantan, the proposal made by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (JPS) to build dams in Ulu Kelantan has to be looked into seriously.
The dam is part of the long term plan and will take a long duration to complete and not to mention the huge cost involved.
So far Kelantan has only one dam, the Pergau dam across the Sungai Pergau, in Jeli, about 70 kilometres southeast of Kota Baharu, hence the state has limited capacity in containing the water flow from upstream.
The department has proposed that the new dams could be built across Sungai Lebir and Sungai Nenggiri, both in Gua Musang, Ulu Kelantan to contain the heavy flow of rainwater upstream especially from the Gunung Gagau range.
Downstream, both rivers converge into Sungai Kelantan at Kuala Krai that in turn flows across the districts of Kuala Krai, Tanah Merah, Machang, Pasir Mas and Kota Baharu before the river empties into South China Sea.
JPS came up with this suggestion as the fast rising water in the two rivers due to heavy downpour from 17-24 Dec, 2014 culminated in the deluge on 24 Dec, the worst in recent years.
The other options are deepening the rivers, building flood barriers along Sungai Kelantan, diverting the water from Sungai Kelantan to Sungai Mulong and Sungai Seribung in the Kota Baharu district and then to Sungai Pengkalan Datu that flows into South China Sea.
The flood displaced more than 104,000 people and caused massive destruction of properties and infrastructure in Kuala Krai, Gua Musang and Tanah Merah.
The extraordinary rainfall also caused soil erosion in areas where land has been cleared indiscriminately upstream in Ulu Kelantan for agriculture.
The soil was carried by the water causing a 'mudflow mayhem' in villages and towns downstream.
Speaking to Bernama here, the Kelantan JPS Director Shahimi Sharif said both natural and human elements were to be blamed for the deluge.
On the first element, he pointed out that Kelantan witnessed extraordinary rainfall upstream this time around with a rainfall of 507 mm was recorded daily from 17-24 Dec compared with 20 mm on the 16th of December.
"In comparison, during the 2004 deluge the highest per day rainfall was only 221 mm while during a much earlier flood episode in 1967 it rained 80 mm, but in 2014 it was a whopping 507 mm," he pointed out.
The problem was further aggravated by the heavy rain downstream as well with Kuala Krai itself recording 212 mm of rain within a day during the same 17-24 Dec period," he said.
Shahimi said at the height of the floods the water level at Tangga Krai reached 34.17 meter, almost 10 meter above the 25 metre danger level.
"The water level at the banks of Sungai Kelantan reached 9.17 meters, this is when the locals were in despair with those taking refuge on the first floor having to go to the second floor, then third floor and up to the fourth floor," he said.
The three-storey Manik Urai primary school that was completely submerged stood testament how high the water rose.
He also rebuffed claims that the flood in Kelantan was also due to water that overflowed from Terengganu including from the Tasik Kenyir.
"There is no water from Terengganu or Pahang contributing to the floods in Kelantan except for the waters from the heavy rain in Ulu Kelantan," he said.

On the second element, the wanton clearing of land for agriculture in Ulu Kelantan without complying with the guidelines set by the Agriculture Department, JPS and other related agencies was the cause of the mudflow.
"The land was cleared and left idle, the heavy rain eroded the top soil and the soil was washed away into the rivers that took the mud as far as Gua Musang, Kuala Krai, Tanah Merah and up to Kota Baharu," he said.
He said the mudflow would not have happened if companies or individuals involved had taken steps to prevent erosion.
Shahimi also pointed out that the rain that continued for more than a week caused the soil to become water-logged and could no longer absorb water, thus the excess water ended up in the river.
"There were no dams here. Sungai Lebir could not contain the huge volume of water that ended up flowing up to Kuala Krai," he said.
On a final note, he said the public should take seriously the water level warnings at rivers provided by JPS so that they remain aware of the developments and were ready to evacuate in an orderly manner. – Bernama