Why is North Jakarta suddenly flooded? This is what the DKI Provincial Government said

JAKARTA - The Head of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's Water Resources Office, Ika Agustin Ningrum, explained the cause of the North Jakarta area being simultaneously submerged in a flood on Monday, January 12. It turns out that extreme rainfall was the main cause of yesterday's flood.

"On Monday, January 12, from 08.00 to 13.00 WIB, the rainfall recorded at the Kamal rain station was 192 millimeters and the Koja rain station was 178 millimeters," Ika told reporters, Tuesday, January 13.

Meanwhile, Ika admitted that the macro drainage channel in Jakarta was only able to accommodate 150 millimeters (mm) of rainfall and the supporting channel could only accommodate 100 mm in 4 hours.

The limited capacity of this channel resulted in flooding submerging residential areas and a number of roads in North Jakarta and parts of West Jakarta.

"The condition of the intensity of the rain that occurred, especially in the northern region, is already above the capacity of our infrastructure," said Ika.

In addition, on Monday morning, rain fell at the same time as the tide, which usually causes coastal flooding or rob.

"Even though the tide is not too high, it causes the water to not flow gravitationally to the sea," he said.

North Jakarta, continued Ika, is an area with a fairly serious condition of land subsidence. There are many basin points that slow down the flow of water to the sea when it starts to recede.

"The north is a land subsidence area that is initiated under the sea, so it takes time to dry with pumps when the flood is above capacity," said Ika.

For information, heavy rain on Monday, January 12 from early morning to yesterday afternoon caused dozens of RTs and roads in Jakarta to be flooded. The DKI Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) recorded that the flood had submerged 63 RTs in Jakarta with a water level of 1 meter per 21.00 WIB.

In addition to the North Jakarta area, the flood on Monday also hit parts of West Jakarta, East Jakarta, and Jakarta Setalan. The overflow of the Krukut River and the Ciliwung River also exacerbated the impact of flooding in the surrounding settlements.