Flooding on the Pesing Flyover Makes Residents Wonder, DKI Government Reveals the Cause

JAKARTA - The Head of the DKI Jakarta Water Resources (SDA) Office, Ika Agustin Ningrum, explained the flood event that also hit the Pesing Flyover, Grogol Petamburan, West Jakarta, on Thursday, January 22. The flood on the Pesing Flyover had made residents wonder.

Ika admitted that this condition was influenced by the still high water level in Cengkareng Drain. Water flows from a number of large rivers in the western and upstream areas of Jakarta when the flood hit still entered the channel.

"From the five regions of Jakarta, today, West Jakarta has not gone down, it has not receded. Why has it not receded? Because the Cengkareng Drain has a high water level," said Ika at the DKI Jakarta City Hall, Friday, January 23.

Ika explained that the high water level in Cengkareng Drain was inseparable from the contribution of water flow from Kali Angke, Kali Pesanggrahan, and water from upstream areas. The condition of the tide also affects the speed of the puddle's receding.

To speed up the handling, the DKI Provincial Government shifted the focus of deploying personnel and equipment to the West Jakarta area. Previously, the handling was focused on the North Jakarta and Central Jakarta areas, which have now been declared dry.

"The efforts we are making, besides pouring gravity water directly into the sea, we are now that yesterday the north and the center were dry today, we are now moving all of them to West Jakarta," said Ika.

Ika said that all resources owned by the SDA Office were deployed to overcome the puddles, including stationary pumps and mobile pumps. The Pesing flyover is one of the priority points because it is on a vital route and is quite severely affected.

"So, all our personnel, tools, pumps, mobile pumps will be deployed to West Jakarta today, one of which is the Pesing Flyover because it is in the West Jakarta area," he said.

The flood event that submerged the Pesing Flyover, West Jakarta, on Thursday, January 22, became a discussion on social media. This condition occurred after heavy rain hit Jakarta and its surrounding areas.

A number of videos circulating show that the water puddles cover the flyover road body with a water height of around 10 centimeters, making it difficult for two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles to pass.

The viral incident triggered the amazement of netizens because the Pesing Flyover is a flyover that is functionally higher than the surrounding ground surface. A number of netizens questioned how the puddle could occur on the flyover, which should have a drainage system to quickly drain rainwater.