PUPR Calls Its Officers In The Wulan River Embankment When Jebol Rendam Rumah Warga Demak

The condition of the Wulan River left embankment in Demak Regency, Central Java, which previously broke, is now closed, Friday, March 22, 2024. (ANTARA/Akhmad Nazaruddin L)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) managed to close the left embankment of the Wulan River in Ketanjung Village, Karanganyar District, Demak Regency, which collapsed, so that river water no longer entered residential areas.

"The repair of the embankment has been broken since Monday (March 18) by deploying a number of heavy equipment. In fact, before the embankment broke, there were personnel on the embankment," said Director General of Water Resources of the Ministry of PUPR Bob Arthur Lombgia when met on the sidelines of reviewing the construction of the Wulan River left embankment in Ketanjung Village, Karanganyar District, Demak Regency, Friday, March 22, confiscated by Antara.

Efforts to close the embankment broke, he said, indeed faced obstacles because the water depth at the embankment site had broken more than 8 meters, so the effort to install it using a stake measuring 6 meters was lost.

Finally, he said, a stake must be brought in longer with a size of 9 meters, only to be included for the closure of the embankment.

"This has taken a long time. Finally, the closure can only be carried out on Thursday (March 21) at night. So there is hope that the flood inundation can dry up because the river water discharge is still above 100 cubic meters," he said.

The closing of the broken embankment involved dozens of heavy equipment. Among them are nine standard excavators, amphibious excavators (excavators that can operate on the river), and loaders.

Meanwhile, the Wulan River embankment which broke 30 meters long or longer than the February 2024 dropout which reached 40 meters in two locations.

The embankment is sought to be closed first according to the water elevation. Meanwhile, the hoarding up to the height of the right and left embankments is targeted within six to seven days.

Efforts to reduce flood inundation have 17 units of water suction pump machines prepared with a capacity of 500 liters per second.