KUALA KANGSAR, April 23 — Sungai Perak, the second longest river in Peninsular Malaysia, has been severely affected by the current El Nino hot spell.

 The 400km river, which begins at the Perak-Kelantan-Thailand border, is seeing reduced water flow due to the dry and hot weather.

Tourist boat operators and fishermen here who depend on the river for a livelihood, are bearing the brunt of the effects of the heatwave.

Boat operator Mohayuddin Mohd Raus, 53, said his business had dropped by 70 per cent in the last three months.

“The hot weather is keeping tourists away. Not many visitors come here for boat rides. I believe it is because of the scorching heat ... they prefer to stay indoors,” he said.

Mohayuddin, who has been ferrying visitors on sight-seeing tours for over 30 years, said the the low volume of water at the Perak river had also caused damage to his four boats.

“Since the water level at the river began to drop, the propellers of my boats were damaged several times when they hit  rocks on the river bed.

“Each time a propeller is damaged, I have to spend up to RM1,000 to repair it,” he lamented, adding that he used to ferry around 100 visitors every weekend.

With the hot weather, the number has dropped to about 30 people, he added. 

It has also been hard for fishermen here.

Ahmad Radha Abdullah, 53, said it was difficult to catch fish when the water level was low.

Previously, he would use a fishing rod to catch fish from the bank of the river but now, he has to go nearer to the centre of the river to catch them.

“It is not easy to catch them now. Because of the hot weather, the fish avoid shallow places. I use to get four to five kilogrammes of fish and earn around RM50 per day by selling them.

“Now, getting even one kilogram is hard. Times are tough for fisherman like me,” he said.

Radha said he used to spend more time fishing to get more catch but gave up after falling sick for two weeks due to the long hours he spent under the blazing sun.

Some of the fish species that can be found on the river are jelawat, tengalan, kelabau, bujuk, haruan and kalui.

Most of the time, Radha said he would only catch the smaller fish because it was easier to sell them.

Abdul Razak Hussin, 62, who lives in Sayong, near here, said this was the first time the water has dropped so low. 

“I have never seen the condition of the river as bad as this. The water level has gone down tremendously, even below the water level indicator.

“The worst part is that one can sometimes smell a stench emanating from the river. This foul odour is occurring more often as the water becomes shallower day by day,” he said. 

Razak said although it rained, the water level at the river had not changed, adding that one could not seen much river-based activities such as boating, fishing and even children swimming because of the low water level.

“My hope is that the rainy season will be here soon. The Perak river is an important part of the lives of the Kuala Kangsar people.”