20 Districts In Cilacap Prone To Drought, Regency Government Urges Residents To Start Irritating Using Water

CILACAP - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Cilacap Regency, Central Java, appealed to residents living in drought-prone areas to be wise and efficient in using clean water, especially clean water.

"This is an effort to maintain the availability of clean water, so that when clean water assistance from the Cilacap Regency Government has not arrived, residents still have clean water supplies," said Head of Emergency and Logistics Division of Cilacap Regency BPBD Budi Setyawan, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 31.

Even if necessary, he said, residents whose wells still emit water fit for consumption are advised to store it in water reservoirs as supplies when wells dry up or are eroded by sea water.

He said that based on the weather forecast issued by BMKG, the Cilacap Regency area has now entered the dry season.

According to him, the Cilacap Regency BPBD has so far distributed clean water assistance to residents affected by drought in Bojong Village, Kawunganten District, as many as 3 tanks and Karanggintung Village, Gandrungmangu District, as many as 1 tank.

"The clean water assistance has been distributed on May 21, 2024 and so far there has been no distribution of clean water assistance anymore because there has been no request for assistance from the village government," he said.

Nevertheless, Budi said that his party is ready to distribute clean water assistance to help people affected by drought regardless of their needs.

Previously, the Head of BPBD Cilacap Regency, Bayu Prahara, said that based on the results of the mapping, in Cilacap Regency, there were 105 villages prone to drought during the dry season.

"Villages prone to drought are spread across 20 sub-districts, including Kawunganten, Bantarsari, and Patimuan. Hopefully this year's dry season won't be long, so the number of villages affected by drought is not too much like last year," he said.

In this case, he said, the Cilacap Regency BPBD in the dry season in 2023 distributed 1,843 tanks of clean water or equivalent to 9,215,000 liters for 19,024 families consisting of 57,642 people in 86 villages from 20 sub-districts.

Nevertheless, he said the Cilacap Regency Government through the 2024 APBD had allocated a budget of Rp. 200 million for the distribution of clean water aid for people affected by drought in the dry season.

"If it turns out that the budget is not sufficient, we will invite companies to participate in distributing clean water assistance to people in need," said Bayu.