41 DAYS TO DISASTER: Negri Sembilan feels the drought

SEREMBAN - Forty-ONE days was the deadline given by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan for  state authorities to act before the water shortage problem  affecting 7,000 households in Seremban hits 200,000 households.

The dry spell has wreaked havoc as Sungai Batang Benar, which supplied 31 million of litres of water to the treatment plant servicing the 7,000 households, has dried up.

This has forced the National Security Council (NSC) to activate the disaster operations rooms four days ago.

"This is a natural disaster and we need to take it seriously," Mohamad said, adding that the taps had run dry in parts of Mambau, Taman Cenderawasih and Taman Kelab Tuanku, including parts of Bandar Baru Sendayan and Rasah.

"The water shortage problem could worsen, with 200,000 households possibly affected if the state government is unable to find contingency plans to avert the situation within 41 days."

Mohamad said the old pipes from the Kuala Sawah treatment plant had to be reactivated to channel water to the affected areas as they were not in the piping range of the Sungai Terip Dam and its water treatment plant, which supplied water to most parts of Seremban.

"We have deployed 35 water tanks, 40 static tanks and 11 water tankers to areas in Sendayan, Mambau and Rasah as Sungai Batang Benar in Pantai has gone dry."

Ayub Ujang, 48, measuring the water level in Sungai Batang Benar, in Jalan Pantai, Seremban, yesterday. The water level has been dropping during the prolonged drought that has hit many parts of the country. Pic by Dzulkeffli Mustapha

He said this after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting at Wisma Negeri here yesterday.

On cloud seeding, Mohamad said strong winds had caused the postponement of the exercise.

"The state Mineral and Geoscience Department has instead been directed to look for underground water reservoirs."

Negri Sembilan NSC secretary Tajul Ariffin Muhammad said the disaster operations rooms would monitor the dry spell and water shortage problem.

"We have yet to enter the disaster phase but we will declare a state of emergency should the situation reach a critical phase.

"For now, the water levels in the dams have yet to drop to critical levels," Tajul said, adding that a "disaster" status would be declared only if the water level continued to record low levels for more than three months.

He said the council would change the status to "dangerous" if there were no improvements three months after declaring a state of "disaster".

The water levels at all six dams in the state are above the critical levels, with the Kelinchi Dam being the lowest at 199.51m (critical level 198.30m) , followed by Gemencheh Dam at 100m (critical level 98m), Sungai Terip Dam at 100.64m (critical level 94.60m), Sungai Beringin and Ulu Sepri Dams at 135m respectively (critical levels 131.75m and 127.20m) and Talang Dam at 144.81m (critical level 140.50m). - NST