MB: May 2 decision on water rationing

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government will decide on May 2 whether to stop or continue with the water rationing exercise.
Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (pix) said the decision will be based on the state government's strategy to increase the water level at dams up to 60%.
Among the numerous efforts to increase the water levels are buying more effective water pumps, exploring raw underground water, and for the first time, Selangor will request the Thai government to assist with a cloud-seeding procedure called "The Royal Rainmaking Technology".
"If these strategies work, we predict the rationing will stop," said Khalid.
"As of today, we still have to continue with the water rationing because the water level at the Sungai Selangor dam is still at a critical level," Khalid said.
"We are hoping that these efforts would provide enough water for the next six months because July and August are festive seasons and we hope there will be no water rationing during that time," he said at a press conference after officiating a programme called Jom Baca Bersama Untuk 10 Minit (Let's Read Together For 10 Minutes) at Raja Tun Uda library here.
The programme was held simultaneously in all states where people gathered in state libraries can read a book for 10 minutes.
In an earlier statement, Khalid said the Selangor government is increasing the raw water storage in its dams in preparation for the next dry season expected to begin next month and last till end of September.
He said the upcoming dry season is expected to be much worse than the one the nation had faced recently which caused water levels in most of the state's dams to drop tremendously.
Khalid hopes that the public would understand the current situation and not manipulate it as the state government is doing its best to prepare for the upcoming dry season.