Procedural Effects of Environment Impact Assessment on Controlling Natural Disaster (Landslides and Flashflood) Based on Environmental Degradation from Development in Malaysia

Abstract

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a preemptive tool used by engineers, environmental consultants and planners to avoid the most likely adverse consequences of development projects. As a planning tool, EIA should curb the harmful effects from all stages of a project lifecycle. Landslides and flash floods are the most common problems faced by Malaysians almost yearly due to rapid development, especially that involving modification of watercourses, clearing of land and projects on hill slopes. Despite such issues, existing legislation and new guidelines have been enacted by the Malaysian government and must be followed by any proposing project team before starting development projects. The Department may have accepted an EIA report of the project. Still, several developments may have neglected the guidelines, especially during construction involving earthworks and exposure of the surrounding environment, place and people to a high risk of disaster caused by mishaps and accidents. The incidence of landslides and flash floods as reported in newspapers, journals, reports and books since 1919 is explored in this study to determine the details of the losses and locations. Despite the enactment of the new EIA law, landslides and flash floods continue to occur. This situation justifies the need to revise the approach based on sizes and include other factors, namely, the risk indices for disaster to happen and the effectiveness of EIA in reducing disaster risks in projects.

RETRACTED: Hydrological and climate impacts on river characteristics of Pahang River Basin, Malaysia

“…Based on the recorded data, the depth of the river bank area leads to the shallowness process and expands the river flood plain of the Pahang River Basin at Kuala Tahan ( Fig. 16 (c)) [ [2] , [3] , [4] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [48] , [49] , [50] ]. The results obtained from the analysis conducted in 2013 for bathymetric analysis at the Pahang River middle stream at Temerloh recorded the maximum depth at 19.13 m and the minimum depth at 24.98 m at MSL.…”

“…The erosion that actively occurred after 2014, especially during the major flood event in 2014, consisted of high-velocity stream flow along the Temerloh Basin regions ( Fig. 17 ) [ [2] , [3] , [4] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] ]. Fig.…”

“…Pahang River Basin is also the biggest river basin in Peninsular Malaysia. For a basin as big as the Pahang River Basin, there are a lot of problems and issues involved with the river planform and river geometry [ [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] ]. Besides that, the Pahang River Basin was also one of the worst to have been affected by a major flood event in 2014.…”

“…Pahang River Basin is located between 2° 48' 45" N until 3° 40' 24" N (latitude) and 101° 16' 31" E until 03° 29' 34" E (longitude). The areas of Tembeling River and Jelai River are almost identical to the Pahang River in parts of the Yap River, and it’s considered the upper stream of the Pahang River Basin [ 49 , 50 ]. Table 1 and Fig.…”

Green Sukuk, Environmental Issues and Strategy

“…The environmental impact assessment also needs to improvise to reduce the case of floods and landslides. Shith et al [19] also support the improvement of environmental impact assessment because, with the current assessment…”