Babakan River in Brebes Floods due to Heavy Rain, Emergency Response is Carried Out

The PU Ministry is carrying out emergency handling of the flood that hit Ketanggungan District, Brebes Regency, Central Java, due to the overflow of the Babakan River following heavy rains in the upstream area (PU Ministry doc).

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Public Works (PU) is carrying out emergency handling of flooding that hit Ketanggungan District, Brebes Regency, Central Java, due to the overflow of the Babakan River following heavy rains with high intensity in the upstream area.

PU Minister, Dody Hanggodo, conveyed that the quick steps were focused on restoring access and handling the impact in the field so that people's activities could immediately resume.

"Connectivity is the lifeblood of social and economic activity. In a disaster situation, the most important thing is to ensure that access remains open so that emergency handling, distribution of assistance, and citizen mobility can run. We are here to ensure that connectivity is immediately recovered," said Dody, quoted from a written statement, Saturday, March 28, 2026.

The Ministry of PU through the Cimanuk Cisanggarung River Basin Agency (BBWS) has taken a number of emergency response steps.

The steps, among others, are the normalization of a number of river sections, strengthening the banks using embankments, and bio-engineering methods, as well as pumping to accelerate the receding of puddles.

The effort is also supported by the deployment of mobile flood pumps and intensive monitoring in the field. Currently, the flood conditions are reported to have gradually receded.

The flood occurred due to the increased flow of the Babakan River which was influenced by high rainfall in the upstream area, especially around the Cisadap Dam.

The water level (TMA) of the Babakan River upstream of Ketanggungan was recorded at an elevation of 5.50, far above the normal elevation of 3.00.

This condition is exacerbated by sedimentation in several river segments which reduces the flow capacity, especially in areas adjacent to settlements and road networks.

It is recorded that around 300 families (KK) were affected and around 200 hectares of rice fields were submerged.

Flooding also occurred on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman, Ketanggungan District, which is part of the Lebaran homecoming route along about 2 kilometers so that engineering and diversion of traffic were carried out.

For further handling, the Ministry of PU has prepared a medium-term step in the form of strengthening river banks and the construction of retention ponds at a number of strategic points through the Flood Management in North Java Project (FMNJP).

Meanwhile, in the long term, it is planned to increase the Cisadap Dam into a moving dam with a long storage concept to increase the capacity of flood control and reduce peak discharge in the area.

The PU Ministry will continue to strengthen the reliability of water resources infrastructure and increase flood disaster mitigation efforts to protect the community and maintain the smooth running of economic activities, including during high mobility periods such as the Lebaran homecoming and return.