BNPB: City Drainage in Pantura Cannot Deal with Floods

JAKARTA - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) stated that drainage in cities with large populations as well as the north coast area (Pantura) on Java Island, is not sufficient to deal with flooding caused by rainfall and high waves.

"This population puts pressure on ecosystems where the drainage system may not be able to deal with high rainfall", said BNPB Acting Head of Disaster Data and Information Center, Abdul Muhari, in a "Disaster Briefing" quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, January 4.

He said the big cities in question included the coasts of Jabodetabek, Semarang (Central Java), and Surabaya (East Java).

BNPB hopes that along with implementing weather modification technology (TMC) to reduce the impact of extreme weather and the potential for heavy-intensity rain, local governments can improve primary and secondary drainage.

According to Abdul Muhari, the TMC which will be held at Christmas and New Year 2023 has at least reduced the potential for rain and the wet hydrometeorological disaster forecast that had previously been predicted.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Central Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Emergency Management, Dikki Rulli Perkasa said that high rainfall at the end of 2022 presented new challenges.

"Our challenge is high rainfall, there are limited primary drainage capabilities, including the northern side of Java, and at the same time there are tidal waves or high sea levels", he said.

This, he said, caused the phenomenon of flooding, including on the railroad tracks. As if making a training run on the sea.

Stagnant water, he said, could not move toward the sea and became a long-standing puddle. Almost the same atmosphere was also experienced by Central Java in February 2021.

Central Java BPBD has anticipated the potential for high rainfall and high waves on December 31 2022-January 8 2023 through information provided by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

The TMC policy carried out by BNPB, he said, was quite successful in suppressing the potential for high rainfall, so that in the afternoon, which usually has the potential to rain, now only cloudy clouds form.

Currently, the inundation conditions on the north coast of Central Java are starting to be under control and receding. Several areas were inundated which disrupted community mobility, including Genuk District, Semarang to Demak and Kudus Regencies, as well as Pati District.

The water pumps operated by the Water Resources Service are still functioning, and the PUPR Ministry has ensured that the drainage system is working effectively.

Losses due to flooding cover 15 Regencies/Cities in Central Java. Refugees who have begun to leave refugee camps are in Pekalongan, Kudus, Demak, and Batang Regencies.

"In the future, this will be our homework on how we can control the rob disaster and we can automatically overcome other potential disasters", said Dikki Rulli.