Sleman Still Repairing Water Pipelines Affected By Merapi Lava Flood

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SLEMAN - The Sleman Regency Government, Special Region of Yogyakarta, continues to work on repairing clean water pipelines around Boyong River and Yellow River which were damaged and broken due to cold lava floods caused by rain from the peak of Mount Merapi last week.

"One of the steps for this improvement is to consider the potential for subsequent lava floods", said Sleman Regent, Kustini Sri Purnomo, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, December 8.

According to her, repair efforts have started one day after the lava flood incident on Wednesday, December 1. The efforts to repair the clean water pipe are carried out jointly between the government and the surrounding community.

"The quick steps taken are of course repairing the damaged pipelines and those that are still safe. If it is damaged, of course, so that the water can flow again, even though it is not optimal", she said.

In addition to repairing pipes, other repair efforts that are being accelerated are securing water sources. One of them is by making gabions or embankments to hold the springs from the brunt of the lava flood.

As was the case at Sendang Wadon and Lanang in Kali Kuning, Umbulharjo, an excavator has been lowered to the location.

"We lowered heavy equipment to assist in the process of making gabions. The goal is to secure the existing springs and pipes. The pipes that were still there yesterday were also arranged and moved to a higher place for safety", she said.

Kustini said the need for clean water because people who have not been able to access water from the slopes of Mount Merapi are still a concern.

As of Wednesday, the distribution of clean water distributed to the community has reached more than 100 thousand liters of water. The distribution of clean water will continue until water from the slopes of Merapi can flow back into people's homes.

"Until the pipeline network is normal. Because at this time there are still some that can (flow), some that haven't. Of course, we will continue to monitor reports from the local government regarding the distribution of clean water", she said.