KDM Proposes Karangligar Karawang Settlement to Become a Lake to Overcome Flooding

BANDUNG - West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi offers a permanent solution to overcome the perennial flood in Karangligar Village, Karawang Regency, by relocating residents, and turning the area into a water-holding lake.

This step was taken considering the geographical position of Karangligar which is in the basin area, so that any technical effort is considered not to bear fruit as long as the settlement remains at the lowest point.

"I convey that the Karangligar basin will never be finished (flooding) because it is a basin, so the best offer is relocation," said Dedi, who is familiarly called KDMitu in Bandung, Friday, January 23, reported by ANTARA.

By making the old residential area an artificial lake, it is expected that the water parking capacity in Karawang will increase significantly, while reducing the burden of river flow around there which has been managed by the River Basin Agency (BBWS).

As a model for future relocation, Dedi proposed the concept of an extreme stilt house. He referred to a pilot project of 10 houses that he had previously built with a floor height of 2.5 meters above ground level, but in the Karawang flood this time it was also inseparable from the water immersion.

Specifically, for Karangligar, Dedi proposed a more radical height standard to ensure that the residence remains dry even though a major flood hit the surrounding area.

"The upper floor is not submerged, which means that the concept can be developed. Well, from the example of 10 it turns out that now there is still submerged in the lower part, in the future, the lower floor, the pillars should no longer be 2.5 meters, (but) 4 meters," said Dedi.

However, Dedi revealed that his party is currently experiencing a major obstacle in relocation which turns out not to be in the availability of land or budget, but in the inconsistency of the attitudes of the affected people.

He said there was a psychological pattern where the desire of residents to move was very high when a disaster occurred, but receded immediately when the water receded.

"This is a problem. So I and the regent have agreed, the regent also conveyed to me, there is no other way, sir, you have to relocate," he said.

He suspected that the reluctance of residents to move permanently was triggered by the physical condition of their houses, which are currently considered good and permanent, so it is difficult to leave.

However, Dedi ensured that coordination with the local government and related agencies continued to be strengthened so that flood management in Karawang was no longer an annual emergency, but a complete structural solution.

Previously, the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Karawang Regency, West Java, said that flooding due to the overflow of two large rivers, namely Citarum and Cibeet, had submerged thousands of houses in 26 villages.

"Flooding in Karawang has been going on for several days and now the affected areas are expanding, because the waters of the Citarum and Cibeet Rivers, as well as other rivers, are overflowing," said Deputy Regent (Wabup) of Karawang Maslani in Karawang, Monday (19/1).

According to the records of the Karawang BPBD, there are 3,162 houses that are submerged in the flood, spread across 26 villages and 12 sub-districts around Karawang. Meanwhile, the number of affected residents is 13,400 people.