GARUT - Plt. Head of the BNPB's Center for Disaster Data, Information and Communication, Abdul Muhari, said that the main cause of flooding and landslides in Garut Regency, West Java, was the narrowing of river bodies.
"The narrowing of the river body is based on observations from aerial surveys via drones," Abdul Muhari said in an online press conference monitored in Jakarta, Tuesday, July 26.
Even though it is protected by embankments, he said, the narrowing of the river body in Garut on the extreme upstream side cannot withstand the overflowing water discharge.
Therefore, the narrowing of the river becomes an important note as a long-term mitigation measure for the disaster in Garut.
From these observations, Abdul revealed that the area that was swept away by the flood was unique, namely the left side was rice fields and the right side was residential.
"Actually, we can still engineer it technically, both from ecosystem and structure-based to be able to make flood disaster mitigation in this location even better in the future," he said.
Abdul explained that the floods and landslides that occurred in Garut Regency on July 15, 2022, caused 19,546 affected people to evacuate in 12 evacuation points.
Garut Regency has a very high incidence of landslides because it is located on a hilly contour. From a historical perspective of events at BNPB from 2012 to 2021, landslides dominated disaster events in Garut with 116 incidents, followed by floods and hurricanes.
The pattern of disasters in Garut follows the rainy season. Based on the Antara report, geographically Garut was built or located in an area surrounded by hills with a fairly high steepness, so that ecosystems in hilly areas must be maintained so that upstream water catchments and well-conserved watersheds can reduce the risk of flood disasters.
In addition to the high intensity of rain, the green land cover in the upstream areas is decreasing. From satellite imagery from 2000 to 2022, the water catchment area is getting thinner.
BNPB supports local governments in replanting and re-greening efforts as a long-term solution to avoid flooding.
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