Flood causes traffic jam in Jln Kuching

 Desperate measure: A Fire and Rescue Department fire truck pumping out the water near the flyover in Jalan Kuching.

No way through: Motorists going to the city centre from Jalan Kuching and Jalan Duta were caught in a traffic jam.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/5/8/central/11246494&sec=central (By JASTIN AHMAD TARMIZI, 8/5/2012)

HEAVY rain in the wee hours yesterday caused an intersection in Jalan Duta to be flooded, causing a massive jam in Jalan Kuching. Two lanes at the flyover to Jalan Duta from Jalan Kuching was flooded and motorists heading to the city centre were stuck for hours. The bumper-to-bumper crawl stretched several kilometres including Jalan Kuching and Jalan Duta.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said poor drainage was the cause of floods. “The drains on the flyover are clogged with wood, leaves and rubbish that have not been cleared by the authorities,” he said at a press conference. “Over the years, we have received many complaints from motorists. For the past three years, whenever it rains, the flyover will flood but yesterday was the worst.

“The floods affected the whole flyover,” he said, adding that a lorry stalled in the floods at about 7am. It usually takes five minutes to come to the intersection from the Selayang roundabout. Today it took almost two hours,” he added.

The Fire and Rescue Department sent a truck to pump out the flood waters into the nearby drain. The area had been cleared of water in the afternoon.

“There are too many development projects in the area. The old drainage system cannot cope with the high volume of rain water,” Lim said.

“I will send pictures of the flood and traffic jam to Kuala Lumpur City Hall and ask them to solve the problem once and for all,” Lim added.