Mayor Of Surabaya Calls Flood Impact Of Culvert Project

The Task Force from the Surabaya City Water Resources and Highways Service (DSDABM) checked the condition of one of the channel points in the Kupang Hamlet area, Friday (5/4/2024/ANTARA)

Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi said the floods that hit the Kupang Hamlet area on Thursday (4/4) night were due to the ongoing construction of the culvert project.

"Yesterday's rain was extraordinary, we did do the dam, because the culvert project is still ongoing," said Eri after a review of the construction of culverts in the Dukung Kupang area, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, April 5.

Eri explained that the project requires his party to reduce the channel so that the lane that should be crossed by the water must be diverted to another point.

Because if it is not done, then the work cannot run optimally because of the flow of water that enters the box culvert installation point.

However, the heavy rain that hit Surabaya, Thursday, April 4, night made an increase in the volume of water in the canal. As a result, there is a buildup of waterways, especially in other locations, such as on Jalan Ahmad Yani, a similar project is being carried out.

"Yesterday, the calculation was wrong, we thought it was not raining in Surabaya, because the weather was hot for about three weeks," he said.

Eri did not deny that this flood incident was the worst. "Last year the flood was not like this, it didn't reach the rear location," he said.

Therefore, projects that are targeted to be completed in early June 2024 are immediately evaluated while accommodating input from residents.

"Kami lihat mandek disek (ditung dulu) atau lanjut," ujarnya.

If the project is later stopped, the cover of the water channel to the coupled river must be opened, so that the work will temporarily stop.

"If the river is closed, it continues to be dredged and a box measuring 2x2 meters is installed, it means it must be closed, otherwise the work cannot be carried out," he said.

The Mayor of Surabaya also apologized to the public for the flood incident.

Meanwhile, a local resident named Suharti estimated that the water level during the flood last night reached 1.5 meters.

"This is the worst, the highest. The rain starts at 8 pm, half past 11 is heavy and at 12 am it floods," he said.

Similarly, another resident named Endang Wiarso said that when the construction of the culverts some time ago the flood appeared, the water level was not as bad as last night.

"Often flooding here, the construction time before this one was not high. Yesterday the water was very heavy," he said.