SHAH ALAM, April 8 — The Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) has succeded in its efforts to bring the pollution levels in Sungai Gong at Rawang under control after it was detected early yesterday morning.
State executive councillor for the environment Hee Loy Sian said the Threshold Odour Pollution (TON) reading stood at zero by 6am.
He attributed the efficiency of the anti-pollution efforts to the biological treatment project under the Raw Water Security Scheme (SJAM) initiative, which is currently being implemented in Sungai Gong and Sungai Sembah since July last year.
"The 24-hour monitoring and surveillance by Luas' Special Action Squad at around 1am detected a blue-coloured water flow in Sungai Gong.
"In response, the authority activated Code Yellow per the Water Resource Pollution Emergency Manual, and conducted monitoring alongside Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd.
"The pollution flow could potentially disrupt the operations of the Rantau Panjang LRA, SSP1, SSP2, and SSP3 water treatment plants (WTP), as their flow enters Sungai Sembah and subsequently Sungai Selangor," Hee said in a statement yesterday.
The councillor added that Luas' early investigation discovered the blue flow's source to have emanated from the pipeline in the drain of a factory at the Integrated Industrial Park in Rawang.
"Luas instructed the premise in question to immediately cease the effluent discharge and conduct cleaning work, in accordance with Section 121(1) of the Luas Enactment 1999.
"It also opened an investigation based on Section 79 (1)(c) of the Enactment, wherein guilty parties are fined a minimum of RM200,000 and a maximum of RM1 million, with imprisonment of no less than three years, as stern action against the offending premise," he said.
SJAM is one of the state government's initiatives in dealing with the quality and quantity of Selangor's water resources. It is also a solution measure for river pollution incidents and the lack of raw water, from upstream to downstream.
Since it began implementation in July last year, SJAM has proven to be effective in reducing Sungai Gong's accumulated sediment, thus improving its quality.
[caption id="attachment_308011" align="aligncenter" width="754"]
A bucket sample of the blue-coloured effluence that was detected in Sungai Gong by the Selangor Water Management Authority's (Luas) Special Action Squad, in the early hours of April 7, 2023. — Picture by HEE LOY SIAN[/caption]
