Wayne Chan Channel NewsAsia 26 Nov 10;
SINGAPORE: With heavy rain expected during the year end Northeast Monsoon season, PUB is stepping up efforts to improve drainage and prevent flooding.
17 canal sensors, which help to monitor the drainage system, has been installed islandwide by the PUB, bringing the total to 49.
That is almost half the targeted number of 90 sensors that the PUB wants installed by the end of the year.
A drain inspection camera, called "elook", is one of the new devices PUB is using to speed up inspection of about 7000 kilometres of drainage in Singapore.
It can be immersed into water 10 metres deep and offers a view of up to 60 metres.
It also reduces drain inspection time by about half an hour. Usually, half an hour is needed for a safety officer to check if a drain is safe to work in. Drains that have an oxygen level of less than 19 per cent are deemed unsafe.
It is especially useful for drains like these which are too small for a man to enter. Video images can also be recorded on the devices for further analysis by PUB.
PUB is using four of these S$20,000 devices, and is encouraging its contractors to use them. This is after a pilot phase for the devices began in September and ended in October.
PUB is also speeding up drainage improvement works in 10 places from Bedok to Bukit Timah.
One of these works is at the flood prone Lorong L Telok Kurau, where a 900 metre long drain has been widened by more than 20 per cent to ease flooding.
Previously left open, the drain is also now covered and new streetlamps have also been installed to make this new walkway safe at night.
Some residents appreciate the move, like 65-year-old Mdm Chew Swee Eng.
"It makes the place tidier and cleaner. There are also fewer mosquitoes. Before it was dirtier especially when leaves fell in or when people threw rubbish in after eating."
But others like pet shop owner Wendy Chong, who has experienced two flooding incidents this year, thinks more needs to be done
"I realise the land, the road was not level. It is sloping down. So when the car drives along , it causes the water to flush into our unit...maybe the land authority can raise up the road...it'll help."
In preparation for the year end rainy season, the PUB has distributed 200 flood advisories to residents and shop owners in severely flood-prone areas.
Some of these areas include Lorong Buangkok, Jalan Seaview, Meyer Road, Lorong 101 to Lorong 106 Changi and Everitt Road North.
The advisory, distributed in early November, dispenses tips on the precautions that residents and shop owners could take to protect their belongings and properties in the event of flash floods.
-CNA/ac
