 SHAH ALAM: Selangor’s water woes may get some relief when water from ponds around Sungai Selangor is pumped into the river to boost its flow on dry days. According to Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, the state is allocating some RM10mil for this purpose. “The allocation is to buy high-powered pumps to increase the river levels,” said Khalid at a press conference after chairing the weekly exco meeting here yesterday. According to Khalid, the water level at the Sungai Selangor dam was still at a critical stage as of 8am yesterday, standing at a mere 38.97% (or 89.63 million litres) of its capacity. Khalid said he believed the water diversion from the nine ponds will put an end to the current crisis. To a question whether water from the ponds, mainly vestiges from tin mining days was safe, Khalid said the water has been tested and cleared for treatment. The pond pumping exercise involves the Environment Depart-ment, the Drainage and Irrigation Department, the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas), and other agencies. He said when river levels return to normal, the same pumps would be used to pump water from the river into earmarked retention ponds in preparation for the long dry spell anticipated from May to September. He said even though other dams in Selangor had levels exceeding 50% now, they only supplied a small portion of the Klang Valley’s water needs as opposed to the Sungai Selangor scheme which provides 60% of the water. “We hope the public would be patient and continue to have faith that the state government would solve this problem,” he said, while adding that the pond pumping started a few days ago. The Star
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