KLANG: Selangor will face a water crisis within six weeks if the state government does not act swiftly.
This was the claim made by Klang Member of Parliament Charles Santiago, who said that as of today, the water levels in the Sungai Selangor and Sungai Semenyih dams stand at 66.73 per cent and 70.65 per cent, respectively.
Last month, on March 29, both dams recorded a capacity of 95.47 per cent and 93.19 per cent.
Santiago suggested that the state government set up a water audit committee and deploy them to oversee households and factories to prevent water wastage including identifying pipe leakages in the areas.
Santiago said the committee should be headed by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, together with state and local councillors.
"If the current weather pattern continues and according to Meteorological Department, the El Nino effect may last until the end of June.
"Looking at the current statistics, you see that in just 43 days the water levels in the dams has depleted, and if the situation continues it may fall below its critical level of 40 per cent," he said.
He urged the state government to take quick action failing which Selangor could face the same situation it did in 2014.
He also said that on a daily basis the Sungai Selangor and Sungai Semenyih dams are diminishing at a rate of 0.62 per cent and 0.47 per cent.
He said the government should not adopt the 'wait and see' approach when faced with a potential crisis.
"To avert the crisis, the state could consider controlling car wash operators to reduce usage of water, encourage consumers to use water saving equipment and ramp up the 'Save Water' campaign.
"If it happens, we can expect elderly people and pregnant women to carry buckets of water. The state should treat this problem as an state emergency," he said.