BNPB: There Needs To Be An Evacuation Route For Residents And Livestock When Semeru's Activities Increase

Head of BNPB Doni Monardo monitoring the location of Mount Semeru's lava avalanches (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Doni Monardo said the creation of evacuation routes for residents and livestock to mitigate the threat of hot lava avalanches from Mount Semeru activities must be built around Mount Semeru.

"We from BNPB have coordinated with the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR)," he said during a survey of the affected locations of Mount Semeru's lava avalanches in Curah Koboan Hamlet, Supiturang Village, Pronojiwo District, Lumajang Regency, East Java, Thursday.

According to him, his party has asked the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing to support the construction of an evacuation route on Mount Semeru as part of reducing the risk of natural disasters.

In addition to the evacuation route, his party also encourages the construction of the hot and cold lava flow of Mount Semeru to be rebuilt, so that if there is an avalanche of lava it will not affect human settlements.

"Building an evacuation route that can make it easier for people to go to a safe place, including rebuilding the lava flow so that it does not lead to residential areas," he said.

He considered the evacuation route to be important because so far there have been evacuation signs, but the evacuation route was not yet adequate.

Meanwhile, the Governor of East Java Khofifah Indar Parawansa also reported that in addition to the evacuation route, dredging the lava flow should also be a priority.

"Based on the data collected, the thickness of the sedimentation from the lava flow path has reached 15 meters, so we do not want new problems to arise, if there is an eruption of Mount Semeru," he said.

According to him, the evacuation route must be confirmed and the community must be confirmed, then evacuation signs must be installed at many points.

"The lava flow path, the sedimentation is about 15 meters, so it must be dredged, so that if there is mountain material overflowing, we do not expect it to spill over into residential areas," he said.

Khofifah also requested that communication services related to the development of information on Mount Semeru's activities be carried out properly, so that later false news would not appear that could disturb residents.

"There is communication that must be ensured to arrive correctly and quickly to the public," said Khofifah.

Mount Semeru released hot lava avalanches from volcanic activity on Saturday (28/11) in the morning and the incident had an impact on 1,298 residents living in five villages spread across Candipuro and Pronojiwo Districts, in Lumajang Regency.