Retention Pool Construction At USU Prevents Official Floods From Starting

Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution (center) pressed the siren button indicating the start of the USU retention pool construction in Medan, Thursday (27/7/2023). ANTARA/HO-Diskominfo Medan City

Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution said the construction of a retention pond at the University of North Sumatra (USU) to deal with flooding in the area of Jalan Sei Padang and the Babura River was officially started.

"I would like to thank the USU Chancellor in collaboration with the Medan City Government for completing one of the priority programs for flood management," said Bobby, attended by USU Chancellor Prof. Dr. Muryanto Amin in Medan as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, July 27.

In addition to helping provide this retention pond, he continued, previously USU also helped the Medan City Government reduce puddles, flood points and long standing water in Medan City.

The mayor stated that flood management in Medan City must be carried out comprehensively and not carried out from upstream to downstream, but from downstream to upstream.

Among them, water disposal from the drainage must be optimal to the river. "The function of this retention pond is to temporarily accommodate the flow from the drainage which is then channeled into the river," he explained.

The retention pond that was built at USU, explained Bobby, is one of three retention ponds to be built in the Medan City area.

"Actually, there are eight recommendations for the construction of a retention pond. Only what we built this year has three points, namely in Medan Baru (USU, ed), Medan Selayang and Medan Labuhan," he said.

"Meanwhile, five more retention pond constructions are expected to be carried out in planning next year," said Bobby.

Head of Water Resources, Bina Marga and Construction Development of Medan City, Topan Obaja Putra Ginting, reported it from the topography of the USU area, which is a basin area in Medan Baru so that water flows towards USU in the future.

"On this basis, a study was carried out by the USU Faculty of Engineering to reduce the effect of excessive water discharge. For this reason, it is necessary to build a retention pond to temporarily accommodate water in this USU area," he said.

His party explained that this retention pond will accommodate water from drainage in the USU area, Jamin Ginting Street to the afternoon market with a depth of 1.5 meters.

The retention pond area is about 2,875 square meters with a depth of 3.2 meters and has a capacity of about 9,450 cubic meters of water.

The operation will be assisted by four doors consisting of two exits and two entrances. Then between pool one and the second pool are connected to a box measuring 2x2 meters.

"If this retention pond is completed, we will save around 400 families affected by the flood so far. We are targeting the construction of a retention pond at USU to be completed in December 2023," explained Topan.