Malaysia: Govt may be forced to declare water emergency

florence s. samy AND patrick lee The Star 14 Mar 14;

KUALA LUMPUR: A water emergency can be declared as early as in three weeks if the weather does not improve.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said: “If it does not rain this three weeks, then I think the National Security Council, which is studying the whole situation, will have to declare a water emergency.”

“We are all praying for rain. If it does not, it is going to be really bad,” he said yesterday.

Dr Ongkili said water levels had decreased mainly due to the prolonged dry spell.

The Sungai Selangor Dam – the state’s largest reservoir – recorded a 40.53% capacity as of 8am yesterday.

LUAS, the Selangor Water Management Authority, said on its website that the dam – which serves more than 60% of the 7.1 million people in the Klang Valley and Selangor – was at 40.99% capacity at the same time on Wednesday.

This was consistent with the Selangor government’s statement in early February that water in the dam was decreasing by 0.4% every day due to a heatwave in the peninsula lasting several weeks and lack of rain in water catchment areas.

The levels at the other dams were 51.44% (at Klang Gates) 90.72% (Batu), 61.53% (Langat), 77.49% (Semenyih), 71.22% (Sungai Tinggi) and 91.63% (Tasik Subang).

Sources had reportedly said water levels at dams would be deemed critical if they were below 40%.

However, LUAS director Md Khairi Selamat disagreed, saying the critical level was 30%.

“If it continues like this, that is if it doesn’t rain at all, we have about 30 days before it (Sungai Selangor Dam) reaches critical level,” he told The Star.

Selangor is going through a third phase of rationing, which according to SPAN, the National Water Services Commission, affects 722,032 households comprising about 3.6 million people.

They get their supply every two days under the “scheduled distribution” exercise.

Brief rainfall in certain parts of the state has barely helped to increase water levels.

Cloud seeding has been put on hold indefinitely as aircraft meant for this have been deployed to aid the search for the missing flight MH370.

In Johor, thousands of households will be forced to rely on water tankers because rivers have dried up.

According to SPAN, the Sembrong Timur water treatment plant serving the Kluang district can now only produce less than 0.4 million litres per day, as opposed to the normal 31 million litres.

In Mersing, the Congok Dam has reached 4.47m – just above the critical level of 4.5m – forcing a two-day on and two-day off water rationing for 6,418 households in the district.

Weatherman: Haze will gradually reduce with proper dispersal
The Star 14 Mar 14;

PETALING JAYA: Klang Valley residents can expect hazy conditions to improve in the coming days after waking up to the choking smog of late.

The worsening haze conditions over the past few days is due to the weakening of winds, said Malaysian Meteorological Department spokesman Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip.

“Therefore, the haze particles are not dispersed properly. We expect tomorrow (Friday) and the coming days, the wind will settle again and the haze will gradually reduce,” said Dr Mohd Hisham.

Apart from weakening wind condition, he said peat, bush and open fires were also to be blamed for the worsening haze.

He said more rain was expected soon, especially during the inter-monsoon season due in mid or end of March.

An Andalas Fire Station spokesman said peat fire and agriculture land burning in Johan Setia Klang and along the Kesas Highway had contributed to the bad air quality.

A Meteorological Department officer said satellite imagery showed there were as many as 82 hotspots in Peninsular Malaysia and that most of the fires happened in Pahang and Johor.

Wind blowing from northeast might have also contributed to the poor air quality in the Klang Valley.

As at 5pm yesterday, Port Klang charted a very unhealthy reading of 233.

Twelve other areas in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Perak and the Federal Territory also recorded unhealthy API readings since noon.

An API reading between 0 and 50 is considered good; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy; and 301 and above, hazardous.

In Klang, residents complained to The Star, wanting the relevant authority to take action to reduce the haze situation.

Prashaandra Ramakrishnan, from Bandar Puteri, said in an e-mail: “Visibility here is really bad and even in the house, I can see smoky air circulating.”

Another resident from the same housing area, Leong Choi Foong, 26, said it was suffocating during the night, especially when it was time to sleep.

“Even after shutting the windows and closing all gaps between doors, smoky air is prevalent in the room,” she said.

In Seremban, state Department of Environment (DOE) deputy director Wan Aminuddin Wan Kamaruddin said it had advised developers to spray water on unpaved roads in their project sites to reduce dust from getting into the atmosphere.

In June last year, schools in Port Dickson were closed for two days after the API reading breached the 300 mark.

Checks at several pharmacies yesterday showed that the sale of masks had increased. Schools were also encouraging students to wear masks.

In Johor Baru, state DOE director Mokhtar Abdul Majid warned those found guilty of conducting open burning activities would be immediately brought to court.

Mokhtar said that if found guilty, those involved could be fined up to RM500,000 for the offence.

In a statement, the National Security Council said the DOE had activated an action plan to prevent open burning in all states, with the act now banned in Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

Second tube well in the works
New Straits Times 14 Mar 14;

FOR FIGHTING PEAT FIRE: Construction work expected to start in May

JOHOR BARU: THE state Minerals and Geoscience Department (MGD) will build its second tube well in Kampung Lepau, Pengerang, in addition to the first one that was built last year to help the Fire and Rescue Services Department put out peat soil fire.

Its director, Shahar Effendi Abdullah Azizi, said that the tube well of about 100 metres deep would have water that firemen can use to battle the flames when a fire breaks out.

"However, the real depth to be dug will depend on the geology profile of the drilling area. We are looking into an aquifer (underground layer of water-bearing rock) in alluvium (sands and gravel layer) and fractured hardrock (rock layer that contains water)," he said in an e-mailed statement.

"In Johor, underground water is often found inside a hardrock aquifer."

Shahar said the construction work of the tube well is expected to start in May.

He said the optimum yield will be determined once the drilling starts based on the geological profile and the condition of the aquifer at the site.

"The current tube well in Kampung Lepau has an optimum yield of about 18,927 litres per hour, or 454,249 litres daily."

He said the water distribution would depend on the drainage and irrigation system at the area.

"For example, when peat land catches fire, water distribution will be carried out along the ditch near the tube well of the affected area. A check dam (a dam to reduce the gradient of a ditch), could be built inside the ditch to increase the water level for the firemen to use in times of an emergency," he said.

The Fire and Rescue Services Department could also have their water hose extended to the affected peat soil area from the tube well.

"Our hydrogeology expert has estimated that each tube well is practically able to cover up to one square kilometre," he said.

The tube well will be in operation after the construction is completed, and a request for water pump has been approved.

"Approval will be granted under a standard operating procedure of the National Level Fire Prevention and Peatland Management Implementation Standardisation Committee," he said, adding that the MGD is a committee member of National Level Fire Prevention and Peatland Management.

He said that other districts like Muar, Batu Pahat and Mersing will also be getting new tube wells.

"The department is ready to contribute by building a tube well to prevent peatland fire. Based on our record last year, the underground water source has successfully reduced the number of peatland fire case by 50 per cent in comparison to the previous years," he said, adding that this has prompted the department to build more tube wells.

"Besides serving the purpose of putting out fires, the water from the tube well could be used during a prolonged drought in times of a water crisis. This is because, the underground water source will be less affected during drought in comparison to the water source at the river surface."

However, if the water was to be used as a drinking source, then it needed to be treated in accordance with the Drinking Water Standard stipulated by the Health Ministry.

Haze blankets Sumatra, hampers search
New Straits Times 14 Mar 14;

OUT OF CONTROL: Govt officials say forest fires have raged for the past week in Riau province

HEAVY smoke from illegal fires set to clear land for plantations has blanketed parts of Indonesia's Sumatra island, disrupting flights and hampering search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner, officials and a pilot said yesterday.

Forest and brush fires have raged for the past week, mostly in peat-rich Riau province, forcing schools to close.

Children and the elderly have filled local clinics and hospitals, complaining of respiratory problems.

Forty-six hotspots were detected by satellite yesterday across Riau province, down sharply from 168 on Wednesday, said Raffles Brotestes Panjaitan, the Forestry Ministry's director of Forest Fire Control.

As much as 13,000 hectares of land in Riau has burned since early last month, according to government estimates.

Panjaitan said a thick haze was covering Pekanbaru, the provincial capital of Riau and the nearest city to the fires, sending a cloud of smoke to the neighbouring provinces of Jambi and West Sumatra. Visibility was reduced to less than 50 metres in some districts.

"The government has tried to halt the burning, but it has gotten out of control," Panjaitan said. He said police had arrested at least 39 farmers for setting the fires.

He did not say whether the farmers were employed by large companies that have been accused of deliberately starting the blazes.

The smoke has left more than 45,000 people with respiratory problems and eye irritation, said Zainal Arifin, who heads Riau province's health office.

Provincial authorities urged people to stay indoors due to "hazardous" levels of pollution. State-run Garuda Indonesia and 15 other airlines have cancelled flights to and out of Pekanbaru, airport official Ibnu Hasan said.

The smoke was also hampering Indonesian navy pilots searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner over the Malacca Strait as part of multinational search efforts, said Major Laksono, a Cassa C-212 pilot involved in the search.

"We had to fly below 152 metres to avoid clouds of smoke," said Laksono, who like many Indonesians uses one name. "But overall, the search went smoothly."

Indonesia's central government has sent planes and deployed more than 2,500 soldiers, police and rescuers to help douse the fires, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Indonesia banned the practice of open burning in 1999 after widespread blazes sent thick haze over Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and other nearby countries, sparking disputes with Indonesia's neighbours.

However, enforcement of the law is often lax as corrupt officials turn a blind eye.

The haze is at its worst during the dry season, which runs from March to September. AP