Receding water levels at Linggiu
Reservoir have been hitting the headlines.
To see how bad the situation really is, we headed towards Bandar
Tenggara. The main entrance of the
reservoir is located 12 km east of the town.
The gate
is guarded by military personnel and needless to say, we were refused entry
into the premises. However, with
the help of GPS and Google Map, we tried to explore other possible accesses into the reservoir.
This led us to drive through plantations and over unmarked tracks. It
wasn't long before we realised that our choice of vehicle could have been
better!
Nonetheless, we were
undeterred and
even went on foot when the track leading to the reservoir was not passable for
my car.
After
trekking (on foot) over a series of undulations, the view of the reservoir
was in sight. We can't help feeling like small kids arriving at a theme park.
Welcome to the
southern tip of the reservoir!
While we
were feeling excited about our discovery, the overall "dryness" of the area
was equally shocking.
 |
| Note the bank at the background of this photo |
From the
bank, we could walk on the dried reservoir bed for almost 1km before
reaching the current main water body.
In terms
of height, the water level must
have dropped equivalent to 5 storeys or more.
Here's an
abandoned boat that shows water was probably aplenty not so long ago.
And the cracked earth is a cruel reminder that water is precious, a reminder that we need to conserve water.
