History Of DID Federal Territory Of Kuala Lumpur

In Klang Valley (especially Kuala Lumpur) a few large floods had occurred in 1971, 1985, 1988 and 1993. The worst flood was on 5th January 1971.

Details on Flood in January 1971.
1. Flooding area in Klang River Basin: 122 Km2 : (1,288 Km2 )
2. Maximum flooding depth: 4.0 m
3. Flood Duration : 5 days
4. Population involved : 180,000 residents
5. Estimated damaged cost : RM 35 million

Following the 1971 flood event, the Kuala Lumpur Flood Mitigation Office was established to manage flooding problems in Klang Valley. In 1978, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Federal Territory (DID WPKL) was established to serve additional function within Kuala Lumpur. On 1st November 1992, DID WPKL was upgraded to Department Of Irrigation and Drainage Federal Territory / Klang Valley Flood Mitigation (DID WPKL/RTB Klang Valley).
The existence of DID was closely related to paddy cultivation; a national agenda to provide new areas for irrigation.

Until 1932, irrigation facility was executed by the hydraulic unit of Public Work Department (JKR). The establishment of DID to fulfill agricultural land development to serve drainage and irrigation functions was formerly known as Jabatan Parit dan Taliair (JPT).

During this era, DID was part of Ministry of Agriculture (MOA); expanding its functions towards new responsibilities like river engineering, flood mitigation, coastal engineering and hydrology.

In 1989, this department was officially rebranded to Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) to reflect extra responsibilities like water resources. Likewise, in 2004 DID was transferred to Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) until today.