KL Floods - Nice Photo but Wrong Background

We all like new toys and some toys can be quite cheap.
This RM2billion baby is the latest toy to reduce the flood problems of KL.

As stated in this article, poor planning can be the cause of flooding in the city and this can be attributed to:

1.Illegal logging and clearing of large land areas
2.Improper disposal of wastes
3.Poor maintenance of existing facilities like drainage, water gates and pumps
4.No desilting of major rivers for many years
5.Large property development without adequate retention ponds

In the old days, I believe the provision for flood and drainage factors were better taken care of. You can still see this in the older sections of Petaling Jaya with lower housing density, adequate trees and grass verges and even the large lake along the Federal Highway. Nowadays that lake would have been filled and even more houses built there.

The article mentioned "water in 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools dumped into the middle of the city."
In my earlier articles I have mentioned that the river overflows at the Masjid Jamek site because the LRT station was constructed across the entire width of the river thereby reducing the flow capacity by at least 30%.

I wonder how much water would have been dumped in KL if this major obstruction had been removed.
So I say this picture would have been more appropriate if the person had posed with the background of that LRT station showing how it disrupted the river flow. The picture should be composed with his outstretched arms to show the width of the river.
I am sure that would have explained to the KL residents more clearly how the floods were caused.


Photo: Thanks to the New Straits Times