Drought in Kedah expected to end soon - Badrul Hisham

The drought in Kedah is expected to not last as rain is forecasted by the end of this month or early next month.

State Housing and Local Government, Water Supply, Water and Energy Resources Committee chairman Datuk Badrul Hisham Hashim said the drought experienced was not as bad as last year because a dry spell was recorded for two months.

"The state government has taken short-term and long-term measures to prepare for continuous drought as well as to ensure that the water issues in certain areas will recover by 2020," he told reporters after attending a meeting to address the drought issue at Wisma Darulaman here on Sunday.

According to Badrul Hisham, three main dams in the state, namely, Empangan Pedu, Empangan Ahning and Empangan Muda recorded a low percentage of water reserve but not at a critical stage yet.

"Based on the information received, if all the dams are only used for necessities and not agricultural purposes, water can last for a year even if the dry spell persists," he said.

Thus, to optimise the use of water, he said, paddy farmers will use the dry seeding method which is still capable of sustaining normal paddy yield," he said. -- Bernama