THE Air Itam dam, which was drying up due to prolonged hot weather, is now above the alert level with a capacity of 52%.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the dam had dipped to 40% effective capacity (alert level) last month, which was projected to only last for 40 days. 

“I receive the statistics daily and monitoring shows the Air Itam dam is storing more and more water, and has exceeded the alert level. 

“Before, it was at alert level two (40 per cent) but did not reach the critical level ... it is now no longer in the red zone,” he told reporters after the opening of the Penang International Halal Expo and Conference 2023 in George Town today. 

Chow was responding to the National Water Services Commission statement that eight of the country’s 43 dams in five states – Johor, Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak – are at alert level.

It was reported last month the Air Itam dam’s reserves would last only 40 days. On May 8, the water level dipped to 41.5%. 

Penang had requested that the federal government seed clouds to trigger rain over the state’s water catchments. 

On June 12, a second cloud seeding exercise was carried out at the Air Itam and Teluk Bahang dams. – Bernama, June 23, 2023.