ALOR SETAR (Aug 1): Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has rejected claims that logging was the reason behind low water levels in dams in the state.

A long drought was causing low water levels, along with simultaneous channelling of water for agricultural, domestic and industrial use, he added.

"There is no logging in the 72,000 hectares [of the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve]. Outside [the water catchment area] there was previous approval according to Forestry Department’s quota of 4,200 hectares a year throughout Kedah.

"There’s less water because there’s no rain, pray to Allah... hope that Allah provides rain to us in a day or two to refill our dams, not only for Kedah but for our neighbouring states,” he told reporters after officiating the Fly the Jalur Gemilang Campaign and Kembara Jiwa Merdeka launch in conjunction with state-level National Day celebrations at Wisma Darul Aman here on Thursday.

Data from the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) website on Thursday indicated that the Muda Dam is at 8% capacity, Pedu Dam (39.09%) and Ahning Dam (81.8%), with an average of 43.68% capacity for all three dams.

Mada also said in a statement on Wednesday that the three-day cloud seeding operation beginning on Monday managed to record two milimetres of rain in the Muda Dam catchment area.

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