BPBD Reveals 577,025 NTB Residents In 335 Villages Of Clean Water Difficulties Affected By Drought

Illustration of drought as a result of the weather phenomenon of El Nino. (Freepic)

NTB - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) revealed that 577,025 residents of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) in 335 villages experienced difficulty with clean water due to severe drought.

"As of August 21, 2023, the number of residents affected by drought in NTB reached 577,025 people or 163,699 families (KK)," said Head of BPBD NTB Ahmadi in Mataram, Wednesday.

He said residents affected by drought were in 335 villages, 70 sub-districts in nine NTB regencies/cities, starting from West Lombok, Central Lombok, North Lombok, East Lombok, West Sumbawa, Sumbawa, Dompu, Bima, and Bima City.

"Of the 10 regencies and cities in NTB, only Mataram City is not affected by drought," he said.

To help residents affected by drought, his party together with the district/city government have distributed clean water.

"The distribution of water by districts/cities has been carried out since the beginning of the drought from June, July, August. This means that they have been sending tank water for almost three months independently. Now fortunately we are assisted by BWS, Ministry of PUPR," said Ahmadi.

According to him, if you look at the dry season in NTB, it has now experienced an escalation towards the peak of drought, which is expected to occur from September to October 2023.

"It is true that we currently feel that, especially areas that do not have the potential for surface water, do not have a source of groundwater, namely shallow wells or drill wells. Or areas that do not have a PDAM pipeline or village pipe network," he said.

"Well, this is the one who is suffering the most really with El-Nino at this time. So we have to bring water using water tanks or use ships for gili-gili such as in the South Lombok area or Sumbawa, Bima, and Dompu. There are areas that do not have clean water," he said.

He revealed that transportation costs to remote areas that do not have water. "If we want to complete it, it will take as much as Rp. 40 billion, but that doesn't mean everything is covered by the province, meaning that everything is divided equally, the Ministry of PUPR, BNPB, CSR companies, and there are people who want to donate so that they are divided equally," he said.