Six Regencies In NTT Have Drought Emergency Status

KUPANG - Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Ambrosius Kodo, said as many as six districts had declared a drought emergency alert status.

"To this day, six districts have set a status (a drought emergency alert)," said Ambrosius from Kupang as quoted by Antara, August 26.

The East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Government has set a drought emergency alert status valid until October 2023.

Furthermore, six districts also followed the determination of similar status, namely Belu, Rote Ndao, Sabu Raijua, Kupang, Alor, and Southwest Sumba Regencies. Determination of the drought emergency alert status based on the dry season forecast from the BMKG that all season zones in the NTT region have entered the normal lower dry season or are drier than usual.

For this reason, Ambrosius also hopes that there will be support from other district governments to conduct rapid assessments in the field related to potential drought.

"Immediately report and coordinate with the NTT Provincial BPBD for handling steps," he said.

He explained that the NTT Provincial BPBD had made various efforts to anticipate the impact of drought, including appeals to the public and clean water assistance.

BPBD in each district also does the same thing and monitors incoming reports to take strategic steps as soon as possible.

"We continue to monitor the direct impact on the difficulty of accessing clean water," he said.

Based on an analysis from NTT Class II Climatology Station, several areas of NTT experienced days without successive rain for more than 21 days for more than 60 days.

Forecasts of rainfall opportunities show that in most areas in NTT it is expected to experience very low rainfall or less than 20 mm/basis with opportunities of more than 70 percent.

The drought situation has an impact on the agricultural sector with a rainy system, reducing the availability of groundwater, causing a shortage of clean water, and increasing the potential for the ease of fire.