Visitors Share Photos & Video Of Extremely Dried Up Lake & Ponds At Taiping Lake Gardens
The water level has dropped by 70% due to the dry season.
By Sadho Ram — 31 Jul 2024, 01:17 PM
Photos of a visibly dried lake and ponds at Taiping Lake Gardens have gone viral, sparking concerns among netizens that the beauty of the 133-year-old public garden could be lost if the lake dries up
Visitors to the public garden this week told SAYS that they were able to walk on the dry pond bed at Taiping Lake Gardens, where the water level has dropped by 70% due to the dry season.
Although Taiping is known as the wettest town in Peninsular Malaysia, it has been affected by the recent hot weather.
According to Taiping Municipal Council president Khairul Amir Mohamad Zubir, the drop in water levels is attributed to prolonged hot weather and a dry spell that has lasted for over a month, a highly unusual occurrence.
"The lake and ponds rely on frequent rainfall as their main water source, and I hope the current hot spell does not last much longer," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
A retired Royal Malaysian Air Force officer, who has lived in Taiping for almost 26 years, said this was the first time he had seen the lake dry up
"Usually, it always rains, whether in the morning or evening. But it hasn't rained for almost a month.
"I usually jog in the morning or evening, but during this hot weather, I still jog, though only for a short period," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
He suggested digging the lake to find water source deep down.
Other visitors noted that the landscape of the lake looks different, with the lush green grass turning brown amid the hot weather and absence of rain in Taiping.
"Such weather definitely changes the landscape of the area. We can see withered lotus in the lake. I hope it will rain soon," said a mother of eight.
However, the Perak government has reassured the public that this phenomenon is temporary and continuous monitoring is being done
According to Perak Science, Environment, and Green Technology Committee chairperson Teh Kok Lim, similar occurrences have happened before, causing the lake and nearby streams to dry up.
"Such effects will recover once rainfall resumes.
"At the same time, the Taiping Municipal Council is actively monitoring the situation," he told Bernama.
A user-submitted photo from last year shows the lake at Taiping Lake Gardens in lush green, in stark contrast to the dried-up and brown lake this year.
Image via Davvid KK Tang (Google)