Oesao Dam Kupang May Causing Drought If It Broken

Officers from the Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) monitored the Oesao dam floodgate which was broken due to extreme weather in the form of rain that occurred in the area on Sunday (5/2/2023). ANTARAPHOTOS/Kornelis Kaha

KUPANG - The Regency Government (Pemkab) of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), is worried that the breakdown of the Oesao Dam sluice will have an impact on new disasters such as drought in the area.

"The problem is that thousands of hectares of rice fields in Kupang Regency, starting from the villages of Pukdale, Naibonat, Nunkurus and Oesao, are very dependent on this dam," said Kupang Regent Korinus Masneno as reported by ANTARA, Sunday, February 5.

The Oesao Dam in the village of Pukdale broke on Friday (3/2), due to high rainfall and the swift flow of the river so that the floodgates of the dam were unable to hold back the swift flow of the river.

As a result, approximately 598 houses in Kupang Regency were reported to have been flooded from Friday (3/2) to Sunday (5/2) morning with a height reaching an adult's knee.

Korinus said that if the dam's floodgates are not repaired immediately to hold back the flow of the river, it is feared that in 2023 a drought will occur in the region.

"This dam is the only source of water that enters the rice fields in Kupang Regency, so if the dam is broken, it is feared that there will be a drought in this area," he said.

For now, his party is not too worried because the rainfall is still quite high in that area, so that the rice fields are still irrigated by water. However, if the dry season has entered from May to November, drought will occur in that area.

To repair the dam's floodgates, his party has coordinated with a number of relevant agencies, starting from the PUPR Service and also the River Hall for the repair of the dam.

But at this time his party is still focusing on handling flood victims because now it is in the emergency response period. "If the emergency response period is over then we will focus on handling it," he said.