The Peak Of Kemarau In Banjarnegara Regency Is Predicted To Last 3 Months, Beware Of Potential Drought Dangers

Illustration of drought in the dry season. (Photo via Antara)

BANJARNEGARA - Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Banjarnegara Regency, Central Java, believes the peak of the dry season will be marked by drought. This is predicted to last for three months, namely August, September, and October.

For this reason, BPBD Banjarnegara has mapped drought-prone areas in the local area to anticipate a clean water crisis in the 2023 dry season.

"Based on BMKG data, for the Banjarnegara area, if the conditions are dry and wet or there is still the potential for rain during dryness in several places, it will last for six to seven months," said Head of Emergency and Logistics Division of BPBD Banjarnegara Regency Andri Sulistyo.

BPBD Banjarnegara Regency has also identified and mapped drought-prone areas in Banjarnegara as a follow-up to a letter from the Regional Secretary of Central Java Province.

In this case, he said, drought swamp areas in Banjarnegara are spread across a number of sub-districts in the southern region, such as Susukan, Klampok, Pagedongan, Bawang, Purwonegoro, and Mandiraja.

"If you refer to the data on the distribution of clean water aid in the dry season in 2019, there are approximately 28 villages prone to drought. If 2020-2022 is relatively safe, because there is still rain during the dry season," he said, as reported by Antara, Saturday, May 20.

Furthermore, he said that according to the appeal of the Central Java Regional Secretary, district/city BPBDs were asked to take anticipatory steps, including preparing the budget to be used.

In fact, he said, the Central Java Regional Secretary appealed to district/city governments not to hesitate to set a drought emergency if there was an extraordinary drought.

"Two years ago, there was a refocusing of the budget to be transferred to handling COVID-19, apart from almost no distribution of clean water assistance because the rainy weather continues despite the dryness," he said.

Andri said other anticipatory measures for the impact of the dry season would be discussed further in a meeting held by the Central Java Regional Secretary in Semarang next week involving the Head of Regency/City BPBD throughout Central Java and other relevant regional apparatus organizations (OPD).