Citizens Awareness Chant Group legal adviser Yan Lee said today the Teluk Bahang dam recorded a level of 19.5% today, compared with 46% recorded at the Air Itam dam, the other dam on the island, despite rain falling.

“The water level at the Teluk Bahang dam has never been this low before. Experts should study the streams connecting to water catchments nearby,” he said at a press conference.

“One of the streams, as observed on Google Earth, is seen to have dried up.

“We feel that an urgent check should be done to ensure that all such streams continue to channel water to the dam.”

In response, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said there had indeed been a lot of rainfall in the state, but not so much on the island, especially in Teluk Bahang.

He said most of the rainfall was recorded in the Central Seberang Perai District, adding that the Mengkuang dam near Bukit Mertajam was a testament, with the water level hitting 85%.

Chow said in the meantime, the state would carry out eight cloud seeding operations at a cost of about RM30,000 each session in the Teluk Bahang area.

He said the funds would come from an allocation for an earlier cloud seeding project of RM480,000.