Kelantan’s biggest dam drying up
The Bukit Kwong dam in Rantau Panjang, the biggest in the state, continues to dry up due to the prolonged hot weather, which struck Kelantan since last month.
State Drainage and Irrigation Department director Kamal Mustapha said the dam’s water level was at 14.28m yesterday.
Its normal level is 16.67m.
“The department has been taking measures since early this year. We have released water from the dam to irrigate droughtaffected farmlands since January.
“We want to help people, especially farmers who are facing difficulty in getting water supply, after Sungai Golok dried up recently,” he said.
Kamal said the department would monitor the dam although it had yet to reach critical level.
He said the dam’s critical level was 12.20m.
“We will take whatever steps are necessary,” he said.
In Kuantan, the Pahang government has called on the federal government to conduct cloud seeding to boost water levels at the state’s main rivers.
State Tourism, Environment, Plantation and Biotechnology Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsuddin said the move was necessary as the dry spell had affected Sungai Pahang, Sungai Tembeling, Sungai Jelai, Sungai Semantan and Sungai Kuantan.
He said water at the rivers was not only used for domestic purpose, but also for agriculture and freshwater fish farms.
He said the federal government should conduct cloud seeding to restore the rivers’ water levels.
“I will table a report on the main rivers’ water levels and what needs to be done to counter the dry spell, including a need for cloud seeding, at the next executive council meeting.”
The infobanjir.water.gov.my website, which gave water levels of major rivers, including Sungai Pahang, showed that the main water artery in Pahang had seen a drop of up to 3m.
The Sungai Pahang water level at Paloh Hinai, Pekan, stood at 5.42m compared with its normal level of 6.5m.
In Maran, the water level stood at 11.82m (normal, 14 m), followed by 43.16m in Jerantut (normal, 44m) and 23.12m in Temerloh (normal, 26m).
In addition, Sungai Jelai in Lipis had dipped to 53.44m (normal, 55m), Sungai Bentong in Bentong was at 90.93m (normal, 92m), Sungai Triang in Bera at 30.57m (normal, 31m) and Sungai Kuantan in Bukit Kenau was at 16.18m (normal, 17m).
Water, Land and Natural Resource Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar on Saturday said Malaysia was expected to continue experiencing the dry spell until May.
He said Negri Sembilan, Johor, Perak, Kedah, Pahang and Kelantan are expected to face water shortages.
Xavier said three dams recorded a storage capacity of around 50 per cent: Kedah’s Muda dam at 58.97 per cent, Johor’s Machap dam at 55.61 per cent and Sembrong dam at 54.07 per cent.
He said Kelantan’s Bukit Kwong dam recorded a storage capacity of 37.28 per cent.