Spare some thoughts on these underground pipes

AT A TIME when a sinkhole appeared on Jalan Masjid India, followed by a second one that led to the disappearance of 48-year-old Indian tourist G. Vijaya Lakshmi from Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh on August 23, another sinkhole emerged in front of the Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) treatment plant in Wangsa Permai.

        A nearby resident reported noticing a manhole forming in front of the treatment plant but did not investigate further, fearing that the ground surrounding the hole might collapse further.

        My initial attempt was to only contact a few key people regarding the matter so as not to create an alarm. Sinkholes can and do happen any time due to pipe laying work. As I recall the incident where my former school principal Mr Yong Chee Seng's car took a nose dive down the bore hole at Jalan Universiti near Sin Chew, the depth of the bore hole for IWK pipe laying work must be at least 30 feet below the road level. 

        I am therefore not suprised that the two manholes that appeared at Jalan Mesjid India are deep, making it difficult for the Search & Rescue team to locate the body.

        We will have to wait for the geotechnical task force to come out with its technical report to know what actually happened but there are signs that there could be a leak of some liquid from some underground pipes that caused the erosion of the soil. 

        If DBKL cares to dig into the old records, the two sinkholes that appeared at Jalan Mesjid India could be sites where the holes were bored. If yes, efforts in the future must ensure that the bore holes filling are properly compacted or work may have to be done again. It is up to the city council to go after the contractors if they were found to be negligent with their workmanship. 

        Meanwhile, KLites must understand that the bulidings are not built on the surface of the land. Each buillding stands on strong concrete piles, which usually rest nicely on some rocks. 

        This is based on my little "engineering" knowledge that I have acquired over the years. These buildings may not stand against any seismic activities but they should not collapse because of some local soil erosion, unlike with the case of Highland Towers, which collapsed due to slope failure. 

        That is why we should not believe the cartoon illustration and the suggestion of a politician saying that the whole of Kuala Lumpur can sink. It is irresponsible of the said politician to create such scare. 

One Thing Lead to Another 

        Photographs of the sinkhole in front of the IWK treatment plant was initially shared with people who needed to know about the possibility that it could be of a same nature as the sinkholes that appeared in Jalan Mesjid India. 

        The pipes laid by Department of Sewerage some 30 years ago at this housing estate were only meant to cater for a few thousand homes, but those laid in Jalan Mesjid India, I can imagine how much bigger they must be! 

        Since they are already in the know, and are doing something to arrest the problem, I am sharing it with a wider audience to the best of my knowledge to enable us to understand that underground pipe laying work can be very complicated. 

        If there is a leak, for example, it is hard to identify unless you do frequent inspection using specialised scope, which I understand can be very expensive. Moreover, it is over hundreds of kilometres of pipes. Besides the IWK pipes, there are also the other pipes belonging to AirSelangor which, thankfully, I believe are not as deep as the IWK pipes. That's why you see water fountains from an Air Selangor burst pipe. 

        It is the IWK pipes that are at least 30 feet deep. To fix any pipes that are 30 feet deep, can you imagine the amount of hardship these people have to go through? Please put yourself in their shoes.

        Just before the appearance of the manhole, I was informed that the IWK water was overflowing into the public drain nearby. Photographs and videos have been shared with Chairman of SPAN, Charles Santiago, with the hope that something could be done to solve the problem urgently. This is a form of pollution that is still happening, and into its second week. 

        A few days after the IWK water went into the public drain, I took this video on August 30 to send to Mr. Santiago, former MP of Klang. Despite being chairman of SPAN that is supposed to regulate all the utilities related to water and wastewater, he has not responded till today about the issue. 

August 30

Sept 6
The next day after I returned from Bintulu, I went to check out the same site: