Jakarta, Sept 15 (Antara) - The Indonesian government is bracing for a severe drought, as the natural disaster has began to impact several regions, particularly Central Java, described by its governor as having entered the emergency zone.
Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo stated that his province had been categorized as being in the drought disaster zone in the current dry season. "Almost 22 districts are now experiencing drought," Pranowo said, after opening an exhibition themed 'Creativity and Innovation of Central Java', which is being held in the city of Pekalongan, Friday.
To overcome the problem of water shortage for the community, since June 2017, the provincial government has been conducting coordination meetings with several related elements to discuss the drought.
At the coordination meeting, it has been decided to prepare the distribution of water by channeling it through the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the company and the local government.
In the face of the drought in several regions of the country, the central government has outlined precautionary measures to handle it in some regions in Indonesia, according to the instructions given by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
"I have urged all ministers and the related institutions, as well as the governors, to evaluate the condition on the field, and take the necessary precautionary measures to handle the drought," the president mentioned at the opening of a closed-door meeting to discuss the drought countermeasures held at the Presidential Office here, Tuesday.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, East Java Governor Sukarwo and Central Java Governor Gandjar Pranowo, among others, attended the meeting held to address the drought situation.
Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said the ministry would drill artesian wells in several areas to forestall any disaster when the current drought situation would reach its worst level.
"Under an emergency situation, the government will drill deep wells," Basuki stressed after attending the annual scientific congress of the Indonesian Association of Experts in Groundwater (PIT PAAI) 2017 in Yogyakarta, Wednesday.
He said there were around 6,900 artesian wells across Indonesia, including 488 wells for clean water, while the remaining was for irrigation.
Currently, more artesian wells are being drilled in a number of areas known to be prone to lengthy drought, such as Pati, Central Java (two wells) and Sukabumi in West Java (three wells), with a water supplying capacity of up to 20 liters per second.
"We will also drill wells in Sumbawa, East Lombok and West Lombok," the minister revealed.
Thomas Ola Langoday, Deputy Head of Lembata District, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province, noted that all villages in the region were suffering from severe drought.
The drought has triggered water shortage, especially in the villages where the sources of the springs have dried up, Langoday told Antara via a WhatsApp message.
The drought, he said, has had an impact on food insecurity in some areas, especially in the Ile Ape Subdistrict. "In the past few months, the entire Lembata area has been reported to be drought-affected; water sources are drying up, fires are erupting and the villagers face food insecurity," he said, Friday.
In East Java, groundwater wells are now being planned to overcome the shortage of water. The District Head of Gresik, Sambari Halim Radianto, said his administration planned to dig 1,000 groundwater wells to cope with the impact of long drought in some areas in that district.
"The plan is to build 1,000 wells in 914 villages in Gresik. At least one well in a village," Sambari said in Gresik, East Java, Friday.
He said building dams would not guarantee water supply, as even dams would dry up during a long drought. Drought disaster has always threatened the northern East Java district every year; therefore, the district has to rely on groundwater to cope with the crisis in water supply.
Chief spokesman of the district administration Suyono said drought had hit Gresik every year, and so, groundwater wells were needed to save the people from a water supply crisis.
Earlier, the District Disaster Controlling Agency said 32 villages in Gresik were facing a crisis in water supply, and needed immediate shipments of clean water.
According to President Jokowi, he had received a report from the Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) indicating that the drought that hit Indonesia in 2017 would not be as bad as that in 2015, when the El-Nino phenomenon occurred.
"However, in some regions, no rains were received for more than 60 consecutive days, or over two months. Parts of Java Island have suffered during the peak drought season. According to the BMKG, most regions would receive rains by the end of November or October 2017," the president stated.***4***(A014/INE/B003)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 15-09-2017 23:58:0 |
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