PERAK TO IMPLEMENT IMMEDIATE SHORT-TERM MEASURES TO ADDRESS FLOODING IN KINTA

IPOH, Feb 18 (Bernama) -- The Perak government will roll out a series of immediate maintenance measures as short-term solutions to address recurring flooding in the Kinta district.

State Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Public Transport Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said the measures include maintaining flood retention ponds, flood control pumps and flap gates to ensure the entire system operates at optimum capacity.

For the long term, he said the state government will proceed with Phase Two of the Sungai Kinta Flood Mitigation Plan (RTB), upgrade the Jalan Raja Bridge (gate) in the Manjoi Cluster, undertake widening and deepening works along Sungai Pari, and enhance the internal drainage system in affected villages through the relevant agencies.

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“The state government remains committed to ensuring public safety is always prioritised, and all mitigation efforts and infrastructure improvements will be expedited to reduce the risk of recurring incidents,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Nizar said rainfall exceeding 80 millimetres (mm) was among the main causes of the flooding that struck Kinta last Monday.

Heavy rain in the upper reaches of Sungai Kinta and Sungai Pari recorded a total rainfall of 83.5mm.

“The heavy downpour caused river levels to surge by more than two metres in less than two hours.

“The highest reading at the Sungai Kinta Water Level Station in Kuala Pari was 32.04 metres at 8.15 pm before receding to 29.99 metres as of 2.10 pm on Feb 17,” he said.

He added that the incident caused Sungai Pari to overflow into low-lying and high-risk residential areas, particularly around Manjoi and Buntong, as well as several locations near Sungai Pari, including Taman Hock Aun and Jalan Kuala Kangsar, with flood depths ranging from 0.3 to 0.6 metres.

“In addition to the unusually high rainfall, obstruction to water flow at the Jalan Raja Bridge (Pintu Gerbang) due to its low soffit level was also identified as a contributing factor to the overflow,” he said.

-- BERNAMA