The 44.6km-long tunnel, an essential part of the Pahang-Selangor Raw Water Transfer Project, is scheduled to function sooner than expected to resolve the ongoing water crisis in Selangor.
Raw water from Sungai Semantan will be directed into the tunnel and channelled into Sungai Langat for treatment in seven existing plants.
The unique proposal is among the suggestions from the national action committee under the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry. It is expected to be presented to the Cabinet today.
The tunnel, which is nearly completed, was originally created to channel water directly to the Langat 2 water treatment plant, delayed by three years now.
The Pahang-Selangor Raw Water Transfer Scheme includes the tunnel and the two water treatment plants.
The proposed use of the tunnel echoes the urgent action the Federal Government realises is needed to ease the burden of 6.7 million consumers in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur since February.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili confirmed yesterday that he will submit several proposals drawn up by the committee led by his deputy Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.
“The panel’s proposals can be put in place to overcome the shortage,” he said.
Ongkili said the Government would consider all possible measures to resolve the crisis before it worsened, adding that the water level in the Sungai Selangor dam, which supplies 60% of raw water to treatment plants, was now at 37%.
“If rain does not fall in catchment areas over the next two weeks, the level in the dam will drop to 30%. The Federal and Selangor governments need to search for urgent steps to ensure the demand for water is met,” he added.
However, even if the plan to utilize the tunnel sooner is approved by the Cabinet, it could take six months to implement.
“There are other things to consider before water can flow through the tunnel. One of the things is to remove construction machinery and to conduct checks on the structure,” said an official.
According to the plan, the tunnel is meant to be able to transfer up to 1,890 million litres of raw water daily (MLD) but it still hasn’t been determined how much of water will be channelled under the contingency plan.
Consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are using 4,351.33 MLD. The total production capacity of 34 treatment plants is 4,686 MLD.
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