There are black spouts around the Citarum River, DLHK encourages residents not to light fires

The Karawang Environment and Hygiene Service while inspecting the location of the Citarum River black water burst. (Doc. ANTARA)

The thick black water burst that appeared in the Citarum River segment of Batujaya-Pakisjaya had gone viral on social media, and it was a natural phenomenon.

This was revealed by the Environmental and Hygiene Service (DLHK) of Karawang Regency, West Java, which also asked the public not to start a fire around the point of bursts or black water bubbles in the Citarum River, Batujaya-Pakisjaya segment.

"We have conveyed to the sub-district that the community should not start a fire around the point where the water burst was used to be black in the Citarum River, Batujaya-Pakisjaya segment, because it is dangerous," said Head of DLHK Karawang, Iwan Ridwan, in Karawang, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, September 21.

"Based on the geologist's statement from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the burst from the river flow is suspected to be mud blow-up. This is a natural phenomenon caused by natural gas pressure," he added.

Iwan reminded people who are close to this phenomenon not to start a fire.

He said that the natural phenomenon was confirmed not to be a waste pollution. Because around the scene there are no factories or industries.

For this incident, DLHK Karawang immediately wrote to the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and to the BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Center to determine the cause of the phenomenon of black water bursts in the Citarum River, Batujaya-Pakisjaya segment.

Meanwhile, the Head of Environmental Control and Control (PPL) of the Karawang DLHK, Melly, said that his party had carried out field verification to Segaran Village, Batujaya District and Telukbuyung Village, Pakisjaya District.

"We immediately jumped into the incident point to carry out field verification regarding the emergence of air bubbles in the Citarum River in the Batujaya-Pakisjaya segment," he said.

Based on the facts and findings in the field, the air bubble originating from the riverbed appeared at several points on September 14-16, 2024.

"The occurrence of air bubbles from the bottom of the Citarum River occurred at several points, starting from Segaran Village, Batujaya District and Telukbuyung Village, Pakisjaya District, which is about 3 kilometers away," he said.

Melly said, according to residents, the bubbles of air coming out of the riverbed carried black mud, emitted a pungent odor, caused a current/wave of water and formed a black circle with a diameter varying between 1-8 meters.

"This depends on the depth of the river and the strength of the air bubble, there are even fountains above the surface of the water, which are seen by residents who live along the river but do not have time to record because there is fear," said Melly.

He said the duration of the appearance of air bubbles varied, ranging from 30 minutes, one hour and some even up to all day.

"To find out clearly the cause of this natural phenomenon of mud blow-up, we wrote to ask for further research from the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and to the BMKG Earthquake and Tsunami Center," he said.