GEORGE TOWN, Feb 14 — Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) Chief Executive Officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa has called for cloud seeding at the catchment areas of Beris Dam, Muda Dam and the Sungau Muda river basin to be prioritised due to the critical levels of the Muda Dam’s capacity.
He said Muda Dam’s capacity is at a critical level of only 7.44 per cent as of yesterday and it can no longer support Sungai Muda during the current dry season.
He said this meant cloud seeding must be expedited to ensure the raw water reserves of the Beris Dam will last until the rainy season arrives.
“As such, the river level of Sungai Muda is highly dependent on only one other dam in Kedah, the 120-billion-litre Beris Dam,” he said in a statement today.
The Beris Dam’s capacity was at 69.87 per cent as of February 6 and it was releasing about 864 million litres of water per day (MLD) to sustain the Sungai Muda river level.
He said if the Beris Dam does not have sufficient water to release and sustain the Sungai Muda river level, southern Kedah and Penang will suffer from a water crisis.
“As of today, PBAPP is still able to optimise abstraction of raw water from Sungai Muda for treatment at the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant,” he said.
The plant produces more than 80 per cent of the treated water that is supplied throughout Penang.
While PBAPP still has the Mengkuang Dam, which has 72.8 per cent effective capacity, to extract water, he said only 300 MLD can be drawn from the dam while Penang’s average daily consumption of treated water was 843 MLD.
Jaseni called on the Kedah state government and federal government to formulate a contingency plan to support and protect water supply services in southern Kedah and Penang in case the dry season is prolonged.
“We are raising the alarm for urgent actions to be taken by Kedah and the federal government to ensure no water rationing in Penang and southern Kedah this year,” he said.
