Environmental Disasters

Upon reading this news article, I could not believe that the once world's fourth largest lake has dried up due to human activities. The dried up lake has affected severely the once-robust fishing economy in the area. The sign of catastrophe could be seen as fishing trawlers are stranded in sandy wastelands.

It could be considered as a major environmental disaster of the current time. It was reported that the lake dried up to almost 90% since the river that used to supply the water had been diverted for irrigation purposes.

The river was diverted to boost cotton production in the arid region.

The scarcity of water will be a major source of competition as global warming and rising populations further reduce the amount of water available per capita.

Even in the areas where the rainfall is very high, the shortage of water is still inevitable during draught season. The proper management of water is urgently required to properly mange the abundant of water during rainy season to be distributed during draught season.

Problems with Water

Last Monday, I was in Kuala Lumpur and managed to capture the following picture. I don't know what exactly the phenomenon is. Was it a bursting water pipe? Was it a huge aerial water display? Was it somewhere at Tasik Titiwangsa? Or was it water canon shot from the fire trucks in KL.

I don't know the answer.

Water Rationing

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

It is hard to believe that some part of the country is still under the dry weather spell and water supply is less than demand causing water shortage. Referring to this this story, Labuan is currently hit with water shortage and I can feel the sentiment of those who were affected by the water rationing since we were once experiencing similar problem due to prolong draught period. The disruption in water supply requires all people that were affected to change their daily routine in order to conserve the available amount of water.

Coincident with the current flu pandemic, the need of clean water is really needed in order to prevent the virus from spreading. Hopefully, everything will be back to normal since festive season is just around the corner. Also, hopefully the relevant authorities will continue to provide assistance to those affected.