SHAH ALAM, Jan 17 — The Selangor state government is conducting a 24-hour monitoring operation at river basin areas in the state starting today until January 31 in a bid to curb pollution.

State Environment, Green Technology, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman, Hee Loy Sian said 200 officers and personnel from relevant agencies involved in the operation codenamed "Op Sumber Air”, held in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration.

"Among the agencies involved are Lembaga Urus Air Selangor, Pengurusan Air Selangor, the Department of Environment and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage.

"The operation will focus on the Sungai Selangor and Sungai Langat basin areas as the rivers contribute 90 per cent of water supply in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya,” he told a press conference at his office here today.

Elaborating, he said based on monitoring, the river pollution incident often occurred during the festive seasons.

"That’s why we take the approach to conduct this operation as we want to avoid river pollution which can lead to the existing water treatment plants to cease operations and cause water supply disruption,” he said.

Lee said the state government was also looking at conducting such operation during other festivals to avoid water disruptions. — Bernama