Burst underground water pipe cause massive jam

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THOUSANDS of motorists were caught in a massive traffic jam in Puchong, Seri Kembangan and Serdang after an underground water pipe burst at the Km13.6 on the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) yesterday, which Syabas claims was due to natural causes.

Some other major roads leading to the LDP were also jammed as motorists entering and leaving Seri Kembangan and Puncak Jalil tried to avoid the affected area.

It is learnt that the crawl started at 5.30am and did not ease until 10am.

The cause: A burst pipe just before the Puchong Selatan toll plaza heading towards Cyberjaya/Putrajaya caused a huge jam that lasted for more than four hours.

The crawl was worse towards Cyberjaya/Putrajaya as the right lane was closed to traffic.

An irate motorist, Khatijah Begum, who called up The Star, said she was caught in a two-hour crawl between Puchong Perdana and Cyberjaya.

‘’I left my house at 8am and only reached my Cyberjaya office at 10am.

“The traffic jam started just before the Puchong Selatan toll plaza near the Petronas station until the Seri Kembangan exit.

‘’Motorists who know the areas well diverted into Puncak Jalil for a longer journey to office,’’ she said, adding that it usually took her only about 20 minutes to reach her office.

The Star employee, Herman Lim, 33, who was travelling from Lestari Putra in Puchong, said he was caught in the jam for more than an hour and had to divert to Puncak Jalil to escape the jam to get to the office in Section 16, Petaling Jaya.

“Several motorists were also using the different routes, although longer, to their places of work at Putrajaya and Cyberjaya.

Another motorist, Zamri Ali, said he spotted at least a couple of cars stalled near the burst pipe area.

‘’At first I thought it was a major accident involving several vehicles until I got nearer to the scene and saw water gushing out of the burst pipe,’’ said Zamri.

Syabas corporate communications and public affairs general manager Abdul Halem Mat Som said more than 200,000 consumers in Seri Kembangan, Serdang and the surrounding areas were affected .

“We have taken immediate steps to rectify the situation by sealing the main mild cap to prevent further water wastage and flooding in the area.

“We have temporarily connected a pipe to the main source so that the affected residents will continue to get their normal supply,’’ added Abdul Halem.