Xavier: Kedah may need to ration water

Water rationing will be implemented in Kedah if the water supply problems persist following the drought in the state, said Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar.

But, he said before rationing was carried out, available tube wells in the state would be opened to ensure water supply is adequate especially for domestic consumers.

"Dry weather is part of climatic change but it comes a bit early this year. It is supposed to come in February but it came much earlier in January and will go on) until March. So, we are looking at the situation now.

"We already have a lot of tube wells in Kedah. We will be opening all those tube wells and also drill new tube wells as well, in order to make sure we have enough water supply," Xavier (above) said when met by reporters in Langkawi today.

Earlier, he accompanied Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on a working visit to a sewerage project at the Pantai Tengah Sewage Treatment Plant which used the Advanced Moving Bed Bio-Reactor technology.

Commenting on the problem of loss of water supply in Langkawi due to damaged pipelines on the sea bed, Xavier said his ministry would repair the pipes and plant them at a depth of three metres below the sea bed.

"The damage is believed to have been caused by illegal trawling by fishermen in the area. Most likely, we will also ban several boats in the area to prevent this from happening again," he said.

Today, Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir said the water levels in the state's major dams such as the Ahning Dam, Muda Dam and Pedu Dam have dropped to 30 percent, and the state government was monitoring the situation every day.

"The water levels at all the dams differ, some are low and some are high but we will monitor daily. We also have to release the dam water into the river for domestic use," he said.

- Bernama