Tunnel among plans to protect dam

Dry and desolate: Ploughing equipment left unattended at a dried up padi field near Bukit Merah, Perak, as padi farmers cannot start planting due to the lack of water. (Inset) Farmer Awang Darus, 68, showing his dried up padi field.

KERIAN: A 15km tunnel linking Sungai Perak to the Bukit Merah Dam and mini reservoirs there are among plans to ensure that water level at the dam stay sustainable, says Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

He said the dam, which is one of the oldest in Malaysia, had been affected by peat soil siltation at the bottom of the lake.

To counter this, the Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry has allocated RM10mil to clean up the peat soil.

“It will take time. Everyone must take care of the Bukit Merah Dam because it is a century-old piece of history. It is an important water source for the people of Kerian.

“It provides water to 30,000ha of farm land,” he said after visiting the dam yesterday.

The water channel from Sungai Perak to the Bukit Merah reservoir, he said, would take time.

“We need at least RM300mil to build this 15km tunnel, which will ensure that the water in the dam does not drop to critical level in the future,” he added.

Plans are also being discussed to build mini reservoirs and implement the River Bank Filtration (RBF) well project there, which Dr Zambry said could produce at least 25 million litres of water per day in the future.

Farmer Awang Darus, 68, showing his dried up padi field.

RBF is a type of filtration by purifying water taken from pumps adjacent to a riverbank.

On land encroachment in the dam’s water catchment areas, Dr Zambry said the problem was not the only issue causing the water in the dam to drop to critical levels.

“Don’t just pinpoint one problem. We know the crisis has affected many, especially the farmers, but the peat soil siltation and dry weather also contributed to the issue,” he added.

It was reported yesterday that encroachment into more than 200ha of forest reserves was believed to be one of the factors affecting the water catchment area at the Bukit Merah Dam.

The forest reserves act as a buffer zone around the Bukit Merah reservoir.

Bagan Serai MP Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said the land intrusion, especially at Kampung Selamat and the Pondok Tanjung forest reserve, had been happening over the past few years.

The land was cleared illegally for agricultural purposes.

The Bukit Merah Dam supplies water to over 22,000ha of padi field in the Kerian district and is a source of drinking water for over 200,000 people, including the industrial areas in Kamunting and Taiping.

According to Dr Noor Azmi, who is also Bagan Serai Agriculture Development chairman, measures to stop the dam’s water level from dropping, including cloud-seeding and upgrading the Bukit Merah reservoir, would be in vain if the encroachment issue was not addressed.

Yesterday, the level at the dam increased to 6.3m from 6.06m on April 25.