Low levels at Bukit Merah Dam forces authorities to hold cloud seeding operation

SUBANG: The Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry in collaboration with the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) and the Air Force carried out a cloud seeding operation at the Bukit Merah Dam, Semanggol, Perak on Saturday (June 18).

Agriculture and Food Industries Deputy Minister I Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah (pic) said the operation focused on two Integrated Agricultural Development Areas (IADAs) covering more than 20,000ha.

"This operation is carried out at IADA in the Kerian district covering 19,000ha while the cloud seeding at the IADA area in Penang involves 1,267ha," he said in an press conference at the Air Force base here on Saturday.

Ahmad said the operation was aimed not only at increasing the water level at the dam but also restoring the irrigation system for domestic, industrial and agriculture use.

"We are confident that this operation will directly benefit 8,869 padi farmers in the Kerian area and 1,267 from the IADA Penang area," he said.

On the mechanism used for the operation this time, MetMalaysia deputy director-general of Operations Lim Ze Hui said the seeding was done using 800kg of salt that were dissolved with 4,800l of water in four water tanks, flown using the Charlie 130 Hercules aircraft.

"For each spray in the suitable cloud, it takes 30 minutes to rain and according to our analysis today, the weather conditions are good and we have high chances (of success)," he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad said the water level at the Bukit Merah Dam reached the critical level on May 27 and this had resulted in supply disruptions in the area.

"The water level in the dam stands at 27ft (8.25m), less than 1.5ft (0.45m) from the normal level of 28.5ft (8.70m) and the dam is at level one," he said.

The operation was conducted by 11 members of the Air Force together with three MetMalaysia staff. - Bernama