The flood-prone KM9.1 stretch of the NKVE at Shah Alam was flooded twice in three days. Both carriageways from KM9.1 to KM9.4 were closed on the evening of November 2 after heavy rain, and at 4.07am on November 4, all lanes in both directions between Shah Alam and Subang were again not passable. The stretch only reopened that afternoon.
The Shah Alam toll plaza and interchange have flooded before. The toll plaza was closed by floodwaters in December 2021, and the area around the toll and the interchange flooded in November 2025.
Shah Alam MP Azli Yusof said on Threads that the recent flash floods at the NKVE/Shah Alam toll interchange, Kampung Melayu Subang and Seksyen 13 are all along the alignment of the Sungai Damansara flood mitigation plan (Rancangan Tebatan Banjir, or RTB), which he expects to be fully completed around 2031.
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Azli put the cost of the RTB at about RM481 million, the figure Sungai Buloh MP R Ramanan gave in October 2024. However, a reply in the Selangor state assembly in November 2024 stated that the federal government had approved RM545.7 million for the project, and that CSR Unggul Sdn Bhd had been appointed to carry it out.
What’s being built
The project details attached to that reply list upgrades to the main drainage and river system and a detention pond, along with a pump station, flood bunds, flood walls, parapet walls and a flood drainage system. There are also drainage outlets laid by pipe jacking, a flap gate at the mouth of Sungai Air Kuning and gross pollutant traps.
Azli said the river will be deepened too, with the works carried out in stages from upstream across the Petaling and Shah Alam districts. Kampung Melayu Subang is part of the alignment, and roads there that are often hit by floods, such as Jalan Merbau, Jalan Tembusu and Jalan PKNS, are among the focus of the early mitigation works.
He added that TTDI Jaya, Bukit Jelutong and Seksyen 13 will also benefit, as the river and its tributaries flow through Shah Alam to Batu 3, where they join the Klang river.
Separately, the state government is funding a RM8.05 million project on Anak Sungai Damansara, a tributary, which includes a pump house, a flood wall and upgraded outlet structures and drains. Azli said the tributary works are aimed at flash floods on the Subang/Shah Alam border, such as around the Batu Tiga Komuter station.
Contract runs until July 2031
According to the state assembly documents, the project started on October 16, 2024 and is scheduled to be completed on July 15, 2031.
On November 3, prime minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered work on the Sungai Buloh and Sungai Damansara flood mitigation projects to be sped up after repeated flooding in the area, Bernama reported. The two projects, which are being carried out in two phases, have a combined allocation of nearly RM700 million and are now 30% to 60% complete.
Speaking after visiting the flood relief centre at Dewan Siantan in Kampung Melayu Subang, Anwar said he has instructed that work such as river dredging, for which contracts have already been awarded, be expedited. “Our priority is to speed things up,” he said, adding that the rivers need to be widened and more retention ponds built.
Ramanan, now the human resources minister, gave an earlier date than Azli and the state assembly documents, saying both phases are expected to be completed by 2029, Media Selangor reported.
Anwar will receive a progress report on the federal flood mitigation projects on Friday (November 6). Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari is expected to brief the state exco on state-level projects the same day, and he said a meeting with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) will also review their progress, including several contracts awarded as early as 2015 that are still incomplete.
Short-term measures
While the main projects are under way, the government is considering a temporary retention pond for Sungai Buloh, estimated to cost RM12 million. “The aim is not to stop flooding entirely, but at least to reduce the severity of the flooding currently occurring,” Ramanan said.
In Kampung Melayu Subang, where at least 92 homes were affected by the November 2 floods, state infrastructure exco Izham Hashim said the lower sections of the Sungai Pelempas embankments will be raised by 0.5 m to 1 m, at a cost of under RM1 million. The proposal was due to go to the state exco on November 5.
Selangor has also allocated an additional RM70 million for 255 immediate flood projects, such as installing pumps, clearing drains and repairing riverbanks. Izham said 177 of them have been completed.
Azli said he hopes the RTB won’t be delayed, and that the government should also review its interim measures and “quick wins” at the newest high-risk hotspots. He said he will keep raising the matter in Parliament.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department has warned that rainfall of over 100 mm could continue across the Klang Valley every afternoon until this weekend. If you use the NKVE through Shah Alam, check PLUS’s traffic updates before heading out, and if your car insurance doesn’t cover floods, consider adding Special Perils cover. Drive safe.
