SHAH ALAM, April 13 — The state government is ramping up climate-resilient initiatives and infrastructure upgrades to mitigate flooding in Klang, especially during heavy rain, The Star reported.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said RM990.41 million has been approved and channelled to the Selangor Irrigation and Drainage Department (JPS) to implement 13 flood mitigation plans in the district.
“We are looking at developing the Selangor Water Master Plan, which will look at the starting point of floods, reason for droughts and increasing water reserves.
“We cannot rely on piecemeal solutions because the challenges are greater with each year," he said, as reported by the local English daily.
Amirudin said that as a developed state with a population exceeding 7.3 million, Selangor must up the resilience of its key urban centres of Klang, Shah Alam, Subang Jaya and Petaling Jaya.
“These four cities house nearly half the state’s population. That is why Selangor has to adapt to the increasing rainfall to reduce flood impact on the people,” he reportedly said.
He added that JPS is undertaking various flood mitigation measures, including by building bunds, cross-drainage culverts and retention ponds, as well as the installation of sluice gates and high-capacity pumps.
Selangor JPS director Datuk Mohd Nazri Yasmin said five of the 13 mitigation projects in Klang are expected to be completed by September, while the remaining eight would be ready between end-2027 and late 2031.
The initiatives form part of the state’s efforts to prevent a recurrence of the major floods that hit parts of the Klang Valley in December 2021.
Nazri said flood mitigation works are being intensified across several locations in Klang, including a flood retention pond in Taman Mutiara, Bukit Raja, and coastal embankment improvements in Kampung Sungai Serdang and Kampung Tok Muda in Kapar.
He added that drainage infrastructure must be upgraded to reflect climate change, noting that existing systems were designed based on outdated rainfall data, with older drains increasingly unable to cope due to extreme weather and rapid urbanisation.
“Climate change, too, is causing more frequent and intense short-term rainfall, leading to overloaded drainage networks and localised inundation.”
Nazri said that while accounting for future rainfall intensity is not new, greater emphasis is being placed on it in Selangor’s flood mitigation projects.
He said JPS also considers current and projected land use within catchment areas, and that studies on drainage and river capacity incorporate projections on runoff volume and flow rates, ensuring flood mitigation infrastructure can accommodate future water flow.
