Heavy rainy spells could trigger landslides in risky areas

During spells of heavy rain, monitoring risky slopes becomes more crucial in preventing landslides and similar calamities.

It is an undeniable fact that the rainy spell of the last two months was the main cause of the Batang Kali tragedy. During any lengthy spell of heavy downpours, slopes are the first to become dangerous and risky as water seeps into the slopes, and the additional burden and weight of the earth can trigger large landslides. It is simply a case of gravity giving way!

The Batang Kali site was an ideal site where the slope could fail during an extremely long rainy spell as is occurring presently. The hilly and mountainous area around Genting Highlands has been heavily developed for various activities and a lot of slopes have been created for the construction of roads and buildings. All these are potential landslide areas and care must be taken to assess whether there are any tell-tale signs of cracks or fissures around the slopes.

Technical teams and the local authorities need to monitor large slopes especially where there are buildings or residences inhabited by a lot of people living in the vicinity. These people can be alerted and asked to evacuate.

Landslides can cause widespread damage far from the original site where the earth began moving, and damage homes and buildings in places regarded as being a safer distance away from the slope. This was what happened in Batang Kali.

Search-and-rescue (SAR) operations during the rainy spell can make the site muddy, messy and risky for SAR personnel as well as the earth-moving machines and excavators.

During the present rainy spell, the authorities at the national level should have issued alerts and warnings, and the Batang Kali site closed temporarily until the rainy spell was over, and the campsite could resume operations later. Possibly, the country was too engrossed in the GE15 then.

In Peninsular Malaysia, a mountainous region, greater attention should be paid to landslides as rainy spells not only bring the usual floods but also other risks involving hilly and mountainous stretches.

The best way would be to monitor such risky areas. The local and state authorities who permit development in hilly and mountainous areas need to have a list of risky areas, which they should check and monitor for any tell-tale signs of danger. It is the responsibility and duty of the local authorities who approve developments in risky areas.

Malaysians would have suspected that the torrential downpours of the last two months could trigger some calamities somewhere in the country.

Rainy spells in the peninsula should bring a heightened awareness of the risks of developments in these elevated areas, other than floods. Floods are easier to predict than landslides and cave-ins that affect roads and various kinds of activities.

The best way to prevent more episodes like the Batang Kali tragedy is to issue alerts advising people using these risky areas to be more careful, if not reduce, their activites during the rainy spell.

Allowing a campsite for schoolchildren in a risky area especially during a spell of heavy rain for the last two months was a big risk, on hindsight.

During heavy seasonal rainy spells, the authorities need to broadcast more messages on all media concerning landslides, floods and other natural calamities to ensure that the danger is always in the minds of the people, as people tend to easily forget and go about their normal routine.

The yearend rainy spell coincides with the school and festive holidays, so warning messages will enable people to choose safer places to visit or go for a holiday. With climate change, the rains we are experiencing are heavier and can cause more natural calamities. The best precaution it to be careful, commonsensical and have foresight.

V. THOMAS

Sg Buloh, Selangor