Penang CM says Sungai Muda recovering after recent drop to dangerous levels

GEORGE TOWN, April 30 — Water levels in Sungai Muda have risen back above the critical threshold after previously dipping to a dangerous level, raising Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today amid continued concern over raw water stability for the state.

He said the river level, which had fallen below the 1.5-metre critical mark last week, has shown an upward trend in recent days.

“The water level at Sungai Muda is at 1.64 metres today, it was 1.56m on April 28 and 1.6m yesterday,” he told reporters after officially launching the renaming of Jalan Persiaran Pantai Sinaran to Persiaran Chin Fung Kee here this morning.

He added that further details on the water level conditions in Penang will be released by the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) later today.

Last week, the Sungai Muda level dropped to a danger level of 1.27 metre at Lahar Tiang.

PBAPP chief executive officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan said the safe level is two metre and under normal conditions, PBAPP abstracts about 1,300 million litres per day of raw water from Sungai Muda for use at the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (WTP).

To mitigate the drop in water levels, PBAPP immediately began to draw down water from the Expanded Mengkuang Dam to supplement raw water supply to the Sungai Dua WTP.