SOME PARTS OF INDONESIA FACE WATER CRISIS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 23 (Antara) -  Residents of some regions and provinces in Indonesia have begun to face water crisis as the water volumes of springs, wells, rivers and lakes began to decline as a result of drought.          The volume of the Cisadane River in Tangerang for example, has begun to drop drastically in the past few days.         "The condition of the Cisadane River's water volume is categorically critical, though it still looks normal. Yet, its volume continues to decline," Sumarto, the head of Tangerang's Bendung Sluice 10 of the Cisadane River, noted on Monday.          The Cisadane River is one of the main sources of water for industries and water companies which distribute water to consumers in Tangerang, Banten province.          Provinces which have been affected by water crisis as a result of drought this year included South Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Central Java and West Sumatra. According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), twenty provinces in Indonesia have been affected by the drought due to the current dry season and low rainfall.          To deal with the situation, the BNPB has allocated Rp50 billion for relief operations in the regions affected by drought, including providing water tanks and pumps as short-term measures, BNPB spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.          As of now, the provinces that have received aid include West, Central, and East Java; Yogyakarta; West and East Nusa Tenggara; South Sumatra; and Southeast Sulawesi.          Sutopo stated that in Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara, the situation has been worsened by a deficit in water supply due to the drought conditions prevailing since 1995.          In Java, the water supplies have dropped significantly.      "In 2000, the water requirement in Java had reached 83 million cubic meters per year, but the region could only provide around 30 million cubic meters, which is certainly insufficient," he noted.          In Central Java, for example, the current dry season has caused drought and reduced water supplies of regional government's owned water company (PDAM).  The water supply of the Regional Government's PDAM in Pekalongan is pumping 306 liter per second, down 15 percent from 360 liters per second in the previous week.          Director of Pekalongan City's PDAM,  Yani Setiawan, said  on Monday that the volume of her company's water supply had declined because a number of water sources have begun to dry up during the dry spell.          "The decline of water volume affects the water supply of PDAM to consumers," Yani said.          She said PDAM relies on a number of sources for its water supplies, such as artesian wells and springs in Rogselo and in Cepagan villages, Warungasem subdistrict.          "However, the sources of water in Rogselo and Cepagan villages have begun to decline, so that water supplies to consumers are being disrupted," she added.          Yani said that although her company had begun to reduce its water being pumped, it had not yet received complaints from consumers about the scarcity of water. "We hope that consumers who face problems with water supplies will report to us so that we can handle it soon. We have prepared tank trucks to assist the people who face water problems," she stated.          PDAM companies which take water from the Cisadane River in Tangerang, Banten, also faced the same water scarcity.          Head of Tangerang's Bendung Sluice 10 of the Cisadane River,  Sumarto said that  Cisadane's water volume is in a categorically critical condition as the level of water in the Bendung watger gate had reached 11.70 meters as compared to the normal level of 12.50 meters.          The Cisadane River is the main source of water for local water companies and for the industries.          Three companies that use the Cisadane River as their water source are PDAM Tirta Kerja Raharja owned by the regional government of Tangerang District, PDAM Tirta Benteng owned by the regional government of Tangerang City, and PDAM Aetra Tangerang.          Based on the available data, the PDAMs consume 2.4 cubic meters of water per second from the Cisadane River while the industries use 3.2 cubic meters per second of the river's water.          "Due to the current critical water condition, we have shut down all the sluices, so that no water will flow into the sea," Sumarto stressed.          A relatively large scale drought affected region is East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province where at least 170 villages in 17 districts have been facing clean water crisis.          "The water volumes of water sources continue to decrease as a result of the dry spell. Residents have to walk to other villages for obtaining water, or they buy one from water tanks at high prices," Head of the East Nusa Tenggara Disaster Mitigation Agency  (BPBD) Tini Thadeus said on Sunday.          Thadeus said the number of families suffering from water crisis based on data at the local BPBD reached 4,325 or 39,879 people.          "The water crisis could only be overcome by taking water from neighboring villages using tank trucks," she explained.          Tini Thadeus' colleague,  Nor Sunarto, the head of BPBD of Banjar District, South Kalimantan, also reported that his agency was ready to provide water for a number of regions in the province which is being hit by drought. Like those in other regions, many wells and water springs are drying up.          "Besides causing land and forest to catch fire easily, the dry spell is also bringing water crisis in a number of regions. We have to provide assistance for residents needing clean water," Nor Sunarto remarked.          For example, he said, the BPBD distributes water to residents in Tatah Makmur and Aluh Aluh sub-districts. Locals' wells in the two sub-districts have dried and the water of their river became salty as it has been infiltrated by saline water.  "In Tatah Makmur sub-district, we distribute water to six villages," he added.          In West Sumatra,  hundreds of residents in Korong Lubuk Laweh Jajajara village, Patamuan sub-district, Padangpariaman Regency,  have been facing difficulties to meet their daily need for water.          Head of Korong Lubuk Laweh Jajaran village, Ismael said about 88 families in the village had so far only relied on rain water. In the current drought they have to take water in a spring, the only one,   far away from their village.         "Fortunately we still have one water spring which still could provide us with water. But it is situated in a landslide-prone area," Sarmini, one of the residents said on Sunday.***3*** (T.A014/b003/B003) (T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 23-09-2014 23:22: