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Stormwater Management -
Manual Saliran
Mesra Alam
By Ir. Richard Yong, Director, River Engineering Division;
Dr. Md Nasir Md Noh, Senior Assistant Director, Department of Irrigation and Drainage
W
e have to live by the
consequences of
development for better or
for worse. Since 20 to 30 years ago
Malaysia has been straddled by fast
pace development projects. With
yearly precipitation between 2000mm
and 3000mm, the degree of excess
runoff generated from developed
areas apart from silts coming from
bare land areas are merely too taxful
to deal with. Without notice, flash
flood occurs in a few minutes leaving
most of the urban dwellers in awry.
The aftermath is even worse since the
left over is not only rubbish but also
a few inches of mud.
Scenes of garbage flowing into Flash Flood: The Livelihood of Urban Dwellers
rivers and chemical discharge from
industrial plants have been too designers, developers, the
common in the recent past. It all stems public and other
from the uncontrolled discharge of stakeholders towards
stormwater runoff into rivers. achieving sustainable
Imprudent urbanisation with nary stormwater management
care for the environment has in Malaysia. Replacing
contributed to the decline of our river the Department of
water quality. The time has come for Irrigation and Drainages
a change in the way we manage our 30-year old Urban
stormwater runoff. Drainage Design Manual,
MSMA could not have
MSMA Towards a New Paradigm arrived at a better time.
While the old manual
In 2001, a major move was taken was based on pure
in the course of Malaysian urban engineering solutions,
stormwater management. In January MSMA provides a more
that year, the Cabinet officially holistic solution that
approved the Urban Stormwater emphasises, among
Management Manual for Malaysia others, institutional and
(Manual Saliran Mesra Alam or legal issues, strategic
MSMA) to steer drainage planning, and larger
development. environmental issues
MSMA is a technical guide Pollution: Rampant Dumping of Rubbish into (stormwater quantity and
designed to assist regulators, planners, Concrete Drain quality controls), and
B U L E T I N I N G E N I E U R 48
feature
aesthetic aspects. Seen as a major step
towards an integrated water
catchment management in the
country, it illustrates the ever-
growing awareness among policy and
decision-makers of the need to
approach stormwater related
problems in a holistic and integrated
fashion.
Minimisation of pollution entering the stormwater system and rehabilitation of the system whenever possible; and
lower cost open space and recreational facilities compared with non-drainage corridor areas;
increased potential of commercial exploitation of the recreational values of drainage corridors and waterways.
B U L E T I N I N G E N I E U R 49
feature
B U L E T I N I N G E N I E U R 50
feature
Focal Points of MSMA
of origin and then gradually released and soakaways; wetlands as physical and
into the river, or infiltration into the directing roof runoff to pond areas biological treatment systems,
surrounding soil. The former is within lots for infiltration; upstream of lakes
categorised as detention while the grassed swales; gross pollutant traps on inlets
B U L E T I N I N G E N I E U R 51
feature
B U L E T I N I N G E N I E U R 52