El Nino: Perlis may resort to water rationing

The Perlis government may resort to water rationing if the drought the state is experiencing due to the El-Nino phenomenon becomes prolonged.

State Natural Resources and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Mat Rawi Kasim said this could not be avoided if the water level at the Timah Tasoh Dam continued to drop.

"Perlis residents are urged to be prepared in case water rationing is done and to use water sparingly," he told Bernama here today.

The state's water supply mainly comes from the Muda Irrigation Scheme (for residents in the south of the state) and the Timah Tasoh Dam (north).

The Meteorological Department has forecast that Perlis and Kedah would be the most hit states in the peninsula by the El Nino phenomenon which is expected to last until April.

In Shah Alam, Zaidy Abdul Talib, the state executive councillor in charge concerning the same matter for Selangor, said the state government was well prepared to mitigate the effects of the phenomenon.

He said pumping of raw water from retention ponds around Bestari Jaya, Kuala Selangor to complement the water supply system in the state had commenced since Jan 8, producing about 200 million litres daily (MLD), and that cloud seeding would be carried out if needed.

"Based on our calculations, should there be no rain, the Klang Gates Dam will reach a critical level in 106 days, the Subang Dam in 220 days, Batu Dam in 189 days, Langat Dam 80 days and 229 days for the Semenyih Dam.

"The Sungai Selangor Dam can still produce 1,200 MLD for 134 days and the Sungai Tinggi Dam 1,000 MLD for 67 days," he said in a statement.

He added that raw water was also being pumped from the Semenyih Dam (70MLD) to the Sungai Langat treatment plant while water was also being diverted from the Langat 2 tunnel to beef up supply to the Sungai Langat, Bukit Tampoi and Cheras Batu 11 water treatment plants.