Drainage

The Early Years

When it rained heavily during the monsoon season, our islanders had one great fear: flood.

Unlike Singapore today, which has a sophisticated and well-planned drainage system to prevent heavy flooding, people living in Singapore in the 1950s and early sixties were less fortunate. Those who lived in kampongs were particularly hard hit during floods.

The Joint Committee on Flood Alleviation was formed in 1951 to tackle the common rural problem of flooding, by improving the drainage system.

Through sustained efforts, the extent of flood-prone areas in Singapore has been reduced from 3178 hectares in the 1970s to only about 66 hectares now.

Making Progress

We continue to reduce the flood-prone areas through improving our drainage system. Some of our achievements are illustrated below:

Singapore River

Past	Present

Historically an important waterway and the main corridor of business activities for many decades. The river became heavily polluted from extensive business activities in and around the river until it was 'reborn' in 1987 after a massive clean-up of the river.

As we enter a new era, Singapore River will be transformed into a venue for recreational and cultural activities by the 21st century.

An essential feature of the Singapore River Development Plan was the reconstruction of the century-old river walls into strong embankment structures on deep-seated foundations. The Public Utilities Board commenced work to reconstruct the riverwalls at an estimated project cost of $140 million. The work started in 1992 and is completed in 1998.

The area around the Singapore River are now provided with an enlarged drainage outlet and stronger embankments to support riverfront developments.

Geylang River

This main drainage artery serves the Geylang area and the Tanjong Katong drainage catchment. The Public Utilities Board spent some $41 million with the primary objective of alleviating the severe flood situation in the area. In return, the area was protected by a bigger and sturdier structure. As a bonus, the river was turned into a clean and aesthetic waterway

Geylang River transformed into a clean and aestheic waterway.

Sungei Api Api

This is one of the major watercourses in Singapore serving parts of Pasir Ris and Tampines New Towns and the Pasir Ris Industrial Area. Interestingly, a 1.2km stretch of this river is just within 5m reach of the nearest HDB blocks in Pasir Ris New Town.

At the time of improving the river together with the New Town development, the Public Utilities Board adopted an integrated design approach to create a natural-looking infrastructure in an urban jungle, To maintain a perennial stream, the river was purposefully deepened to 2m below low tide so that there would be a permanent flow of water. Specially selected plants and mangroves also lined the river banks to enhance the natural environment.

While Sungei Api Api offered spectacular views to some of the HDB residents; it continued to provide the functional need for drainage. It became the first in a series of river improvement projects involving waterscaping and landscaping of Singapore waterways implemented by the Public Utilities Board.

Future Plans