At a construction site near the Thomson subway station, a clogged drain line caused flooding and placed a dampener in a festive atmosphere at several restaurants on Christmas Eve.
This was found in the PUB survey of the National Water Board.
To address this problem, the LTA will have on-site contractors to further improve the flow of water in the temporary drainage pipeline, which is a rainwater pipeline while a drainage retrofit project is underway.
“As part of the construction of the Thomson metro station, PUB has partnered with LTA to upgrade the drainage on the Tomson Road to enhance flood control in the area,” the Straits Times reported.
The public squad also reminded the construction industry to carry out inspections at public drains near the construction sites to prepare for the season.
Lightning flooding occurred last Saturday, a row of shops between Jalan Keli and Jalan Todak near Thomson Square.
About eight businesses in the Upper Thomson Road are affected by the floods, and tenants say they have suffered thousands of dollars in losses.
The average rainfall in Singapore was 35.5 millimeters on that day, the highest daily rainfall on the day of production (86.0 millimeters), the Singapore Meteorological Services Company said.
50-year-old Jamal Mohamed, a cashier at Roti Prata House, an affected restaurant, estimated his loss at about $ 30,000, including the time the shop had to close when workers cleaned up.
Workers close at 5:30 pm on Saturday, managed to keep their normal business hours on Mondays only.
“We salvaged what we could do, but the flour, masala, rice and eggs were wasted,” the employee, who worked at the food joint for nine years.
Nearby is the construction of the Upper Thomson Station, which is part of a 22-stop Tom Health Line, starting in 2014. The station will be built on the upper section of Thomson Road between Thomson Square and the Holy Spirit Church.
Flash floods on Christmas Eve are just one of the 10 days when flooding took place Wednesday. This is the sixth time during the El Niño period last year, but the number of 17 flooding days recorded in 2014 is the same.
PUB has made efforts to reduce flooding in Singapore, including the expansion and deepening of sewers and canals, the construction of new drains and aging upgrades.
These efforts have helped to reduce flood-prone areas in Singapore to the current 30.5 hectares, down from 35 hectares last year.
jalmsab@sph.com.sg @sph.com.sg>
This article was first published on Dec 30, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
