PUTRAJAYA: The debris flood that occurred in 12 barangays in Baling district early last month and claimed three lives due to the occurrence of a series of geological processes.
Energy and Natural Resources Department (KeTSA) secretary-general Datuk Rosli Isa said the case was based on the report of the special investigation team into the Balinga tragedy. The research the group conducted also revealed hundreds of small landslides that have occurred over the past 15 years.
“The findings of this investigation report concluded that the main cause of the Sungai Kupang, Baling, Kedah disaster was the occurrence of a number of geological processes, namely the occurrence of massive simultaneous landslides in the soil on the weathered granite slopes. “This caused an outbreak of heavy rains followed by the creation of debris flows, debris flows and mudslides, as well as erosion of secondary forest due to the conversion of land use to plantation forest since 2010.
"This increases the rate of erosion in the mountains leading to silting and shallowing of the river," he told the media yesterday at a briefing on the 2022 flood geological disaster report in Sungai Kupang, Baling Kedah.
The Kampung Iboi bridge became a "temporary dam" blocking the debris Rosli said matters worsened when the bridge at Kampung Iboi became a "temporary dam" when debris flooded, causing a large amount of sand and wood to accumulate, which then broke and created a large impact force that resulted in the death and destruction of property. “If the sand debris and the Kayan tree are washed ashore, the debris flood will turn into a mud flood causing damage to property and settlements downstream. "Water reservoirs, dams and silt ponds along the river did not play a role in this disaster but instead fell victim to the debris flow," he said.
Several short-term measures must then be implemented within two years, including a request for the state government to review whether the forest plantation should continue or revert to protected forest. “Furthermore, we are also asking for deepening of the river and continuous clearing of waste to reduce the risk of flooding after the calamity. In addition, we will create a detailed map of geological disasters and debris and install a warning system and establish a National Geological Disaster Research Center,” he said.
Seven million cubic meters of material lay on the beach in the disaster area Rosli said the disaster also resulted in more than seven million cubic meters (m3) of material being trapped around the disaster site. “For the rest of the stones, blocks of stones and gravel and sand in the disaster area as a result of the event, there are many blocks stuck above the river and a lot of sand stuck in Sungai Iboi up to a distance of several kilometers from the river. South. "However, we did not have time to make an estimate in the upper area, but it is estimated that around two to three million cubic meters of large blocks are still stuck there.
Don't worry, because the required blocks could not have been carried away" by a normal flood. "Even if this (normal flood) happens, it will move a few meters from the original place, only sand and soil will come down. This block will remain there until the next debris flow happens again in another place in 50 to 200 years," he said.
