South Garut Line Returns to Normal After Being Closed Due to Landslide

GARUT - The southern route of Bungbulang area, Garut Regency, West Java is back to normal for motor vehicles from both directions that were previously closed due to the landslide disaster that covered the route.

"It has returned to normal," said Head of the Public Relations Section of the Garut Police, Ipda Susilo Adhi, when contacted via cellphone in Garut, Antara, Sunday, April 26.

He said that the landslide disaster due to heavy rain that hit the southern Garut area had closed the Bungbulang-Caringin Highway as the southern Garut route since last Wednesday night.

Since the incident, he said, the southern lane could not be crossed by motor vehicles from both directions, so the police closed the lane and then diverted vehicle traffic to an alternative lane.

He said, a number of police personnel and other agencies lowered heavy equipment vehicles to facilitate the evacuation process to remove the landslide material.

"The line was closed, then it was confirmed that it was normal, smooth from both directions," he said.

He said that the road was prone to landslides, especially during the rainy season, so drivers must always be alert and careful when passing through the area.

Even though the road can now be crossed by vehicles, he said, motorists must remain vigilant when passing through the road because they are afraid of a follow-up landslide at the same location.

"Stay alert when passing through landslide-prone areas," he said.

Head of Bungbulang Police, AKP Priyo Sumbodo, said the process of evacuating the landslide material involved officers from the West Java Provincial PUPR Service who lowered heavy equipment.

The officer, he said, first repaired the cliff so that there would be no subsequent landslides, then evacuated all the piles of landslide material that covered the road.

"The cliff was first taped, if it was not taped it would slide again, then it was only cleaned up in the landslide below," said Priyo.