163 Landslide Points In North Sumatra Completed Handling, Four Still Paralyzed

Access to post-disaster roads in Sumatra can be passed by vehicles (doc BNPB)

CilangIT Disaster emergency handling in North Sumatra Province continues to show positive developments. The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reported significant progress in improving infrastructure affected by disasters in a number of areas, ranging from Central Tapanuli, Sibolga, North Tapanuli, South Tapanuli, Mandailing Natal, Dairi, Karo, Medan, Deli Serdang to Binjai.

Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center, Abdul Muhari, said that as of Wednesday, December 10, his party recorded a total of 171 landslide points, 27 broken road points, 38 collapsed roads, 4 broken bridges, and 28 flood inundation points.

"Most of the points have been handled. From that total, we have cleaned 163 landslide points, then 10 breaking road points and 18 road points have collapsed. Flood inundation in 28 locations has also receded," said Abdul.

However, Abdul said that there are still four main corridors that cannot be passed because they suffered severe damage. The Tarutung Section of Sibolga, Tarutung Sipirok, Sibolga 'Batangtoru, and Batangtoro' Singkuang are still cut off at several points. Several sections have collapsed completely and the bridge has also broken, so special handling is needed," he explained.

For the time being, access to Sibolga has been diverted through Sidikalang' Barus Sibolga route. Meanwhile, the replacement for the Tarutung 'Sipirok route that was cut off was the Siborong-borong' Panggaribuan route, Sipirok along 114 kilometers. However, this access is still limited. This alternative section can only be passed by small vehicles because there are three collapsed points that erode half the road, "said Abdul.

He explained that the section with the worst damage was the Tarutung City Boundary of Taput Regency with 96 points of damage and the Tarutung Sitirok section with 54 affected points. On the Rampa (Mungkur) section, there were 12 landslides and collapsed, seven of which cut the road completely.

"From a total of 31 breaking road points, 10 road bodies and 3 bridges have been handled. We are working on the rest in stages," he said.

Abdul said that the handling of the Tarutung' Sipirok section had reached 50 of 54 points. "There is still a breaking road at STA 10+125 which we are preparing a temporary road. At other points such as STA 08+200, access is open even though the compactification is not optimal due to the weather," he explained.

On the Tarutung 'Sibolga section, handling has been carried out at 78 out of 96 points. However, there are still major landslides along the 100'150 meters that cannot be reached by heavy equipment. The number of damage points is likely to still increase because access is increasingly open and new locations are identified," added Abdul.

Untuk percepatan pemulihan, BNPB dan kementerian terkait telah mengerahkan 106 unit alat berat ke sejumlah lokasi. Kebutan BBM alat berat untuk operasi sehari sudah dimenuhi sebanyak 10,600 liter. Material seperti geobag, bailey bridge, dan aramco juga terus kami penuhi, tuturnya.

In addition to land handling, weather modification operations (OMC) are also being carried out. On Wednesday morning, the PK-YNA aircraft carried out three sorties and distributed 3,200 kilograms of material Semai NaCl. In total since 9 10 December, six sorties have been carried out with 4,000 kilograms of NaCl and 800 kilograms of CaO.

"The team is currently preparing a fourth sortie for the western waters of Central Tapanuli. We use 800 kilograms of NaCl on this mission," said Abdul.

Meanwhile, the BMKG of North Sumatra issued an early weather warning predicting moderate to heavy rain accompanied by strong winds in a number of areas, including Central Tapanuli, North Tapanuli, Humbang Hasundutan, Lake Toba, Karo, Deli Serdang, Dairi, Mandailing Natal, Nias, Samosir, to Padangsidimpuan.

Abdul ensured that BNPB continues to coordinate with local governments, BBPJN, TNI/Polri, and BMKG. "We ensure that the process of restoring public access and safety is a priority. If needed, we will mobilize additional support immediately," he said.