SEMENYIH: Flash floods that will cause damage to their household items and furniture, as well as their flower and vegetable gardens, are the most disturbing problem faced by Semenyih constituents.
According to them, low-lying areas along Sungai Semenyih and Sungai Rinching riverbanks, areas that would be easily flooded during heavy downpour.
A trader, Saliza Rahaman, 42, said the flood issue was not only in areas situated near the main rivers but also in the town areas.
“Even the town is not spared from flash floods. It needs only two or three hours of heavy rain and houses, especially in low-lying areas, will be inundated by flood waters. Furniture, household items and our gardens will be ruined.
“I hope more flood mitigation projects will be implemented and drains be cleared and properly maintained to avoid flash floods,” she told Bernama.
Another resident, known only as Normah, 39, said areas in Jalan Semenyih in front of the Kajang Health Clinic were amongst the flood-prone locations in the constituency.
“Jalan Semenyih is the main road of Semenyih, imagine when the road users were trapped and having to wait for about an hour when the nearby drains overflow every time it rains heavily,” she said.
State Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) data also listed several areas along the two rivers, including Kampung Batu 3, Kampung Rinching Hulu, Kampung Rinching Hilir and Kampung Rinching Tengah as the most flood-prone areas.
For the record, the Selangor Government through State DID had implemented a flood mitigation plan on Sungai Semenyih (completed 2018) and is planning to implement the same project on Sungai Rinching to address the flood issue in the constituency.
A resident of Kampung Batu 3, Khanafi Mohd Mokhsin, 40, said among the identified cause of the floods was the implementation of the nearby development project.
“I have been living here for 40 years, but only in recent years, the floods began to become major issues ... since the implementation of the housing project near the river to be exact.
“The flood mitigation project will be useless if the related authorities do not monitor the developers who simply discharged their construction waste into the river,” he said. — Bernama
