Group calls for review of gas pipeline construction in Klang Valley

April 2026 marks the first year anniversary of the 1 April Putra Heights pipeline explosion.

One year on, RimbaWatch is concerned by the ongoing construction of a new, high-pressure gas pipeline in the Klang Valley, citing its environmental, social and public health and safety risks.

In 2021, the development of a RM541m 42km-long gas pipeline project in the Klang Valley was announced. This pipeline is designed to channel gas from the main Peninsular Gas Utilisation (PGU) pipeline to the 1,200MW Pulau Indah power plant, which would require a supply of at least 137 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The pipeline continues to be under construction.

The pipeline, officially named the NPS36 Pulau Indah Lateral Pipeline but often abbreviated as the Tulip pipeline, runs from the Pulau Indah power plant site, through Carey Island, Temasya Industrial Park, Kampung Sungai Rambai, Kampung Sungai Jarom, past Kampung Orang Asli Bukit Kemandol, TwentyFive.7, which is a Gamuda township in Kota Kemuning, under the Elite highway and connects with the PGU pipeline at an area adjacent to the K47 Residences Condominium in Putra Heights.

The April 2025 Putra Heights pipeline explosion, along with similar explosions and leaks across the Sarawak-Sabah gas pipeline (SSGP), indicates that locating gas pipelines in urban or populated areas exposes communities to health and safety risks.

For example, the SSGP suffered at least four explosions and multiple leaks, resulting in one death, between 2014 and 2025, and was partially closed in 2025.

Meanwhile, the April 2025 explosion in Putra Heights affected a radius of 300m from the explosion point, damaging 437 homes, with 87 of them being completely destroyed, along with 399 vehicles, causing the deaths of numerous household pets, with estimated losses of RM65m to local residents. These leaks and explosions occurred despite repeated assurances from local authorities and pipeline operators that pipeline monitoring systems are in place.

While there is no official map of the Tulip pipeline’s right-of-way, RimbaWatch was able to approximate this through corroborating various low resolution, incomplete maps published by third parties on social media with satellite imagery indicating land clearance along the right of way.

Based on this approximate data, the proximity of the right of way of the pipeline to existing and planned built-up areas are estimated as below:

• In Sungai Rambai, Jenjarom, the right of way could be about 300m from an urban centre
• In Kampung Orang Asli Bukit Kemandol, the right of way could be about 200m from built-up areas in the village
• In Kota Kemuning,
  • The right of way runs adjacent to a section of the Rimbayu township
  • The right of way runs adjacent lengthwise to a significant portion of the 7 township, with at least 95 houses estimated to potentially be within 40m of the right of way, and nearly 600 houses being within a potential 200m radius of the outer boundary of the right of way (This analysis is approximate and based on analysis of satellite imagery)

The ASME B31.8 Standard, adopted worldwide and within Malaysia by pipeline operators and cited in the Department of Occupational Safety and Health’s guidelines on registering as a competent firm (for petroleum contractors) (2018), defines requirements to estimate the potential impact radius of gas pipelines, forming part of a wider suite of risk mitigation actions stipulated by the standard.

Based on publicly available documentation on the specifications of the Tulip pipeline, the potential impact radius of the pipeline could be up to 240m, which potentially places some of the areas identified above at-risk from any breaches in pipeline integrity.

“RimbaWatch is concerned that high-pressure gas pipelines continue to be pursued near built-up areas in the Klang Valley one year after the Putra Heights Explosion,” said Adam Farhan, the director of RimbaWatch.

“As an environmental think-tank, RimbaWatch reiterates that any expansion in fossil fuel capacity is inconsistent with climate science, including the findings of the IPCC that all new oil and gas infrastructure expansion is misaligned with a global carbon budget for a 1.5C aligned pathway.”

Further, Adam Farhan reminded the Malaysian government of the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion in July 2025, which ruled that the issuance of new fossil fuel licences or encouragement of the consumption of fossil fuels could constitute an “internationally wrongful act” (ICJ: Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change, paragraph 427).

Along with exacerbating methane and other greenhouse gas emissions, fossil gas is increasingly being recognised as an increasingly expensive and volatile source of energy for Malaysia, which is expected to become a net-gas exporter by 2040.

In reference to these concerns, RimbaWatch calls on the Selangor government to:

• Justify, in writing, the need for the Pulau Indah power plant and its associated Tulip pipeline, with a view towards the long-term viability of fossil gas as an energy source and specifically referencing:
  • the exposure of Malaysia’s public to energy price hikes
  • the security of fossil gas supply compared to renewable sources
  • Malaysia’s remaining carbon budget
• Conduct a review of the right of way of the Tulip pipeline in accordance with its estimated potential impact radius and other pipeline safety standards, mandating a re-siting of the right of way to avoid built-up areas where applicable
• Conduct a public viewing of the environmental impact assessment of the Tulip pipeline so that the public can assess the level that public safety risks are mitigated by the project developer, while also mandating public access to all environmental impact assessments.

– RimbaWatch

Support our work by making a donation. Tap to download the QR code below and scan this QR code from Gallery by using TnG e-wallet or most banking apps: