Old cemetery emerges as Pedu Lake waters recede

KUALA NERANG: Receding water levels at Pedu Lake have exposed an old cemetery in Kampung Mong Gajah.

This has allowed approximately 300 next-of-kin from the village, as well as local residents, to visit the graves and hold prayers for those interred there.

According to Ismail Md Daud, 62, his late grandfather is among those buried in the graveyard.

“My father, Md Daud Hassan, 90, once lived in Kampung Kuala, which is near Kampung Mong Gajah. Kampung Kuala was also submerged for the Pedu Dam project, just like Kampung Mong Gajah.

“But my father moved from Kampung Kuala due to the many mysterious illnesses affecting the village,” he told reporters on Saturday (Aug 17).

For Mohamad Khori Idris, 58, the imam of the nearby Kampung Tong Pelu, the prayers were held to gather the relatives of the residents of Kampung Mong Gajah and surrounding villages, including those now residing in Batu Kurau, Perak.

“Many people came here, similar to 2020 when the water levels in the lake also receded. “This situation also provides an opportunity for relatives and local residents to engage in recreational activities such as camping,” he said.

Meanwhile, the event was also attended by Padang Terap MP Nurul Amin Hamid, who said that around 15 villages in the area were submerged for the Pedu Dam project in the 1960s.

He said that the cemetery was not relocated because the Kedah Islamic Affairs Department and the Kedah Mufti’s Department saw no need to do so, given the graveyard’s considerable age.

“We pray for those interred here to be placed among the righteous and we also pray that the lake area is replenished with water to be used for domestic and agricultural purposes in Kedah, Perlis and Penang,” he said.

As of Sunday (Aug 18), the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) website states that the water level at Pedu Dam is at 33.21%, while its other two dams, Muda Dam and Ahning Dam, have levels of 7.80% and 78.50%, respectively. – Bernama