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PUB to upgrade major drain at AYE to deal with flooding

Traffic at a standstill near the AYE on Thursday, Sept 5, 2013. The Public Utilities Board (PUB) plans to expand a major drain - Sungai Pandan Kechil- located along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE). -- PHOTO: READER @PEASANDPETALS
Traffic at a standstill near the AYE on Thursday, Sept 5, 2013. The Public Utilities Board (PUB) plans to expand a major drain - Sungai Pandan Kechil- located along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE). -- PHOTO: READER @PEASANDPETALS
Photo taken at a bridge along AYE at about at about 9.30am on Thursday, Sept 5, 2013. It is "not acceptable" for a major expressway to shut down due to flooding, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said on Thursday ev
Photo taken at a bridge along AYE at about at about 9.30am on Thursday, Sept 5, 2013. It is "not acceptable" for a major expressway to shut down due to flooding, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said on Thursday evening.  -- FACEBOOK PHOTO: EUNICE CHAN
Photo taken at AYE towards CTE, at about 7.45am on Thursday, Sept 5, 2013.The Public Utilities Board (PUB) plans to expand a major drain - Sungai Pandan Kechil-  located along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE). -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF FADHILATUL ARIFFIN

The Public Utilities Board (PUB) plans to expand a major drain - Sungai Pandan Kechil- located along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in a post on his Facebook page on Thursday that this is a major project that PUB has been considering and it "will have to expedite this". The expansion will help to alleviate the flooding at the AYE as currently Sungei Pandan Kechil drains south to the sea and is subject to tidal influence. The AYE was one of the areas most affected by Thursday morning's flash floods, which was caused by heavy rain falling over the central and western Singapore.

All four lanes of the AYE towards East Coast Parkway (ECP) were closed as flood waters reached a depth of 0.5m. The flood waters subsided within 40 minutes.

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