Extreme Drought Threatens RI, This Mitigation From The Ministry Of Public Works In 2026

Deputy Minister of Public Works (PU) Diana Kusumastuti said infrastructure development would be redesigned and strengthened to face the double threat of climate change, namely flooding more frequently and widespread drought.

This was conveyed by Diana at the Coordination Meeting for Mitigation and Preparedness Efforts to Face the Climate and Extreme Weather at the Multi Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) Building of the BMKG office, Jakarta, recently.

This step, said Diana, is the Ministry of Public Works' strategy to respond to data and warnings from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) regarding the trend of temperature increases, changes in rainfall, and the potential for extreme drought in the next 25 years.

"The development of rainfall and extreme temperatures will greatly impact the infrastructure we build. Our task is not only to control flooding, but also to ensure the availability of water and food security," Diana said in a statement on the BMKG official website, quoted Wednesday, October 1.

Diana also explained the Ministry of Public Works' plan to anticipate the potential danger.

On the other hand, he continued, the Ministry of Public Works noted several aspects of infrastructure that require intensive attention due to higher and extreme rainfall. Such as intensive operations and maintenance, increasing bridge standards and anticipation of landslides and road damage.

"The construction of roads and bridges must be adjusted to the updated Indonesian National Standard (SNI), taking into account low ground absorption and water runoff (overtapping)," he said.

In dealing with potential drought, he continued, the Ministry of Public Works will prioritize irrigation acceleration which must be completed by 2026 and re-mapping for the construction of new dams, especially in drought-prone areas such as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and the southern region of Java Island, to ensure raw water supply.

According to Diana, the Ministry of Public Works is committed to making scientific data from BMKG the main basis in every design and infrastructure decision, in order to realize that Indonesia's future is more resilient and safe from the risk of hydro-meteorological disasters.

"We need an early warning system that can provide information a few days or a week before, not just when a disaster occurs. Collaboration with the BMKG and Pusdatin of the Ministry of Public Works is very vital so that the team in the field can anticipate before the disaster," said Diana.

Meanwhile, the Head of BMKG Dwikorita Karnawati said that global data proves that climate change is a real reality, not just an issue.

Dwikorita said the latest data showed that the increase in global air temperature had reached a critical level, posing a serious threat to food security and infrastructure in Indonesia.

"Grafik suhu udara global sejak 1850 hingga 2025 menunjukkan kenaikan suhu signifikan, dimulai sekitar 1975 dan meleskat secara exponential. 2024 tercatat sebagai tahun terbesar sepanjang sejarah, dengan suhu mencapai 1,55 derajat celsius di atas periode pre-industrial," terangnya.

The increase of 1.55 degrees Celsius has exceeded the agreed safe limits to be prevented by 2100. The 2015 to 2024 period is also designated as the hottest 10-year period in history.

"The BMKG analysis shows that the trend of rising temperatures also occurs in all major cities of Indonesia. On average, Indonesia has experienced an increase in the temperature of 1.2 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial period (1850-1900). But specifically for Jakarta, the data shows a trend of increasing temperatures higher than the global average, which is 1.6 degrees Celsius per 100 years," said Dwikorita.

The increase in temperature, according to Dwikorita, has had a direct impact on changes in extreme climate patterns in Indonesia and globally. Where the rainfall pattern changes drastically, globally increases in temperature and causes rainfall anomalies.

"Some areas tend to become much wetter (increase in rainfall beyond 80-90 percent), triggering flood disasters. Meanwhile, other areas are getting drier (decreasing by more than 10-20 percent), causing a water crisis and resulting in the emergence of global water hotspots, resulting in water scarcity and widespread water crises," he explained.

Extreme rainfall data in the last 33 years (1991-2024) also shows that the incidence of very heavy to extreme rain (more than 150 mm/day) is getting evener throughout Indonesia.

"Over the past 33 years, the maximum 1 day accumulation of rainfall shows extreme rain events are more frequent and evenly distributed. This is an important indicator to review the potential for flooding and hydro-meteorological disasters," he explained.

Another impact, continued Dwikorita, is the threat of food security.

He said the United Nations food and agricultural organization or the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reminded that until 2050 there is a potential to increase food vulnerability globally if humans fail to control the rate of temperature increase.

"This means that Indonesia and other countries have the potential to have difficulty importing food because scarcity is happening everywhere. We have 25 years to ensure that our infrastructure can shift this vulnerability," explained Dwikorita.

BMKG appealed to the data, which shows that areas tend to get wet (such as Kalimantan & parts of Papua) and getting drier (such as Nusa Tenggara), to be the main basis for the Ministry of Public Works and other stakeholders in designing disaster control infrastructure and resilient water resources.