Jabodetabek Floods Again, Not The Right Time To Blame The Weather

JAKARTA The dry season that should be dry is actually raining, even flooding is quite common in some areas. An anomaly that may never be thought of by the community.

Monday (7/7/2025) Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) were hit by heavy rains for several hours. High rain intensity has caused a number of areas to be hit by floods.

The Kuningan area, South Jakarta, was flooded and caused quite severe traffic jams. In Ciledug, Tangerang, houses were flooded, disrupting activity. Similar views occur in other areas.

Netizens were confused, because this flood occurred in the summer. "July month can be flooded, it's a sign of a climate crisis," Adriansyah Yasin Sulaeman, a public transportation activist on the X account.

"Usually Jakarta floods at the beginning of the year (up to March). This is July, which even 'shouldn' not say. 1.Climate change2.URban planning," wrote a netizen named Zakka Fauzan on the X account @zakkafm.

In the last few days, a number of areas in Indonesia have indeed been hit by higher rainfall than usual during the dry season.

Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati explained, climatologically Indonesia should enter the dry season. But in reality most areas experience rainfall above the climate. This phenomenon is also called the wet dry season.

Wet Drought is the result of a combination of various local and global factors that affect atmospheric dynamics in Indonesian territory. Some of these factors include wind movement in the atmosphere, the influence of global phenomena such as Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO), Kelvin and Rossby waves, as well as the impact of global climate change.

In Jakarta, hundreds of points were inundated and nearly a thousand residents were forced to flee. DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung apologized for the flood that was felt by his residents again.

"Indeed, sometimes we can't fight floods, but how do we get around that we can divert the floods that occur, we can distribute them, not have an impact on the community," said Pramono, while reviewing the inspection embankment for the Ciliwung River, South Jakarta, Tuesday (8/7/2025).

Floods in a number of areas, including Jakarta, seem to be a habit. From year to year, from governor one to governor, the rain fell into a nightmare for some Jakarta residents because they must have experienced flooding.

The study conducted by Civil Engineering Expert Dikman Maheng et al. In 2023, it was stated that since the early 2000s, the increase in high intensity rainfall was exacerbated by the rate of change in urban land use, the shrinking of green open space, while the asphalt concrete area grew.

City planning observer Nirwono Yoga highlighted three types of flooding that must be the focus of the Jakarta government. First, it is a flood of shipments. To overcome this problem, he urged the government to make improvements to rivers affected by flooding.

In Jakarta, Yoga mentioned several rivers that need to be addressed, including the Ciliwung River, Sunter River, Pesanggrahan River, Angke River, and several other points.

"With at least three to four major rivers improving in Jakarta, in a period of five years the flooding sent to the capital city could be reduced," said Yoga.

Relocation of residents living in flood-prone areas near the river also needs to be done. He also encouraged the Jakarta Provincial Government to actively move residents in flood-prone areas to vertical residences.

Even so, Yoga encouraged the arrangement of the times to be accompanied by conservation and control in the surrounding area, including the peak.

"So Jakarta is fixed, the area must also be repaired or reorganized so that it is maximized," explained Yoga.

Second, for the problem of local flooding, Yoga emphasized the importance of massive revitalization of drainage channels. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government (Pemprov) itself said it has operated more than 500 stationary pumps and hundreds of mobile pump units spread across vulnerable points. In addition, the river dredging project, reservoir revitalization, and construction of new polders continue to be accelerated.

The last type of flood that Nirwono Yoga paid attention to was tidal flooding. Arrangement of the northern coastal area is still homework that must be addressed. He gave an example of the Muara Angke and Yos Sudarso areas that need improvement of waterways or reservoirs.

If you focus on the three types of floods, in five years God willing, it can be resolved, what focus should be addressed. And of course share tasks, between the provincial government and the community, including the relocation of residents to flats," said Yoga.

The process of relocating residents from landed houses to vertical housing often gets problems with rejection from residents, as admitted by Chiko Hakim, Head of the Special Staff Social Communications Division of the Governor of DKI Jakarta.

To contain the flood rate in the wet dry season, it is not enough to just depend on nature. Flood disasters should be a really serious lesson, said Nirwono Yoga. Moreover, real climate change exists.

"Right now it's an anomaly of the weather, so it's like there's no rainy and dry season. Assume that all year is the rainy season, so disaster mitigation is one of the main elements to fix overall urban planning," Yoga said.