ID :
405314
Thu, 04/28/2016 - 10:09
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Will The Pahang River Cease To Exist?

By Ainul Huda Mohamed Saaid KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Bernama) -- Is it possible that the Pahang River will soon no longer be able make its 459-kilometre journey to the South China Sea? The longest river of the peninsula Malaysia traverses through almost all districts in Pahang, supplying water, facilitating fishing and farming activities, providing another means of transportation and even fueling tourism and recreational activities. However, according to water quality expert Ir Dr Zaki Zainudin, its days were numbered. This is because the river is in imminent danger of drying up soon, and the blame is on man. DESTRUCTION OF WATER CATCHMENT The years of overzealous logging there, particularly in Hulu Tembeling, has only recently gained public attention. However, it was one of the main reasons that the Pahang River would eventually cease in existence, said Zaki, who is a Chartered Environmentalist. The soil erosion resulting from it not only pollutes the river and makes it shallower but destroys aquatic life and its habitat too. The Pahang River is a culmination of smaller streams that emerge from the Titiwangsa Range. When it rains, the roots of the trees can absorb a lot of water that usually becomes runoff that pollutes rivers and other water systems. The trees can also filter the water to remove the pollutants with their root systems. The clean and filtered water will form streams that flow downhill to a point where it converges to become a river. However, this is not the case in hills where trees have been felled. Rainwater would wash off soil and debris from the cleared land and the runoff would flow into the rivers. The sedimentation it gathers along the way would pool at the bottom of the river, making it shallower and disrupting its ecosystem. Fish species that are sensitive to environmental changes, such as the patin and kelah (mahseer fish), cannot survive such a polluted habitat and would die off. Furthermore, the lack of trees to retain and slowly release water causes the rivers to dry up faster during hot and dry seasons. "I’ve seen it for myself, after the convergence point of Sungai Jelai and Sungai Tembeling, the water has completely dried up. “This can partly be attributed to the weather, but logging is a major contributor to this phenomenon,” said Zaki of his recent survey of the Pahang River. He found deforestation activities rampant and both the Sungai Tembeling and Sungai Jelai (both in Pahang) basins. OIL PALM ESTATES It was not only the unrestricted logging that worried Zaki, a renowned environmental specialist in water quality assessment and modeling. He said the local authorities have just approved of the opening of a 10,000-hectare oil palm plantation at the Sungai Jelai basin. As the number two producer of palm oil in the world, it comes as no surprise that many of the river pollutions in the country come from oil palm estates. “Many of our river basins have actually been turned into oil palm estates. “This is the reason why our rivers are the colour of “teh tarik” (a hot milk tea beverage),” he explained. Like logging, clearing land for oil palm plantations also leads to soil erosion and subsequently rivers filled with sedimentation. The unrestricted use of chemicals in fertiliser, pesticides and also adversely affected river water quality. “The current agricultural activities have already caused heavy pollution (in the Pahang River), imagine what will happen if we add another 10,000 hectares of it,” he lamented. HYDRO DAM CONSTRUCTION Exacerbating the situation were two hydro dams that would be operating at Sungai Jelai and Sungai Tekai, which is located at the upper reaches of the Pahang River. He said construction had already begun for the dam in Sungai Jelai and the Environmental Impact Assessment report for the dam in Sungai Tekai showed that the project has just been approved. “Before the dams can begin operating, the water has to be collected at the reservoir, so the dam operators would block the water from entering the river. “A little water would be allowed through for “environmental flow”, and that is supposed to allow for the normal function of the river. However, would the amount be sufficient to maintain the needs of the river’s ecosystem?” he questioned. He added that the filling up of the reservoir of both dams was expected to take around two years. OVERALL IMPACT The impact of the unrestricted logging, agricultural activities and construction of the dams are expected to cause serious damage to the Pahang River and ultimately wipe out its existence. “We have to look at the accumulative impact of these activities. We can see now that the logging and agricultural activities have caused erosion that led to the decreasing depth of the rivers. “More agricultural activities would lead to more sedimentation. Rivers would then become shallower. The building of dams, meanwhile, would lessen water into the river. So if the logging carries on, there will be no trees and subsequently no water catchments. So where are we then going to source our water from?” questioned Zaki. STOP THE LOGGING COMPLETELY Meanwhile, the president of Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (PEKA) Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, urged that the government put a permanent stop to logging activities nationwide, particularly in Pahang. She said never before had the Pahang River been as shallow as it currently was and agreed that the phenomenon could not be attributed entirely to the weather. “Don’t blame the El Nino or other weather conditions as the weather cycles have not changed much. "What we are experiencing is due to widespread logging. The temperature has soared because there are lesser trees than before, and this is man’s doing. Don’t blame God by saying He has willed the weather to be this way,” she said. Shariffa Sabrina pressed the government to take quick action upon the issue as it involved water, a necessity of life. “Would we one day have to treat water from the Klang River to get drinking water? The treatment cost would be exorbitant. “That is why we have to permanently stop issuing licenses for logging. Do we not know of any other way to make money? Only those who are thick-headed would insist that logging is needed for economic growth." --------------------------------------------------------------------- SIDEBAR Among the rivers in the world with sections that have completely dried up are the Colorado River in the US, the Indus River in Pakistan, the Yellow River in China and the Amu Darya River in Central Asia. The main causes of the rivers drying up are the mass diversion of river flow for agricultural activities, construction of dams and the oversourcing for industrial and residential use. -- BERNAMA

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