Bukit Merah lake now a muddy basin

Drying up: A kayaker in the upper reaches at the northeastern end of Bukit Merah dam, paddling on less than 30cm of water earlier this month. In the horizon, which stretches for at least 5km, the lake is reduced to a muddy expanse of once-submerged tree stumps while at the dam’s wall, authorities report that it is less than 6m deep now. — LO TERN CHERN/The Star

TAIPING: The area near the jetty is dry, with caked mud, and the waters around the Orang Utan Island are at less than 0.75m deep, falling from the usual 2m.

The Bukit Merah dam near here is teetering at dangerously low levels, threatening about 12,000ha of padi crops and thousands of arowana fish bred in this area.