REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Wlhi) has warned that floods will continue to hit Jakarta every year if its upstream areas are not repaired.
"Jakarta cannot avoid floods if the root causes of floods in upstream areas are not addressed," Mukri Friatna, the disaster mitigation manager of Walhi, stated here on Thursday (20/11).
He noted that the floods that hit Jakarta annually were flash floods from upstream areas such as Depok and its surroundings.
Therefore, the government should pay attention to upstream areas where catchment coverage is declining, causing floodwaters to be released downstreams.
"The catchment areas upstream are narrowing because human settlements are encroaching on river basins," the Walhi official observed.
The regional government of Jakarta should be able to repair the upstream catchment areas there to stop flooding.
According to him, the government should normalize the function of the narrowing rivers, which are the main catchments.
The government should also put in order the villas and houses that have reduced the catchments in upstream and river basin areas, he added.
"If the catchments in upstream and river basin areas are widened and restored to their normal sizes, we might be able to avoid floods," he said.
In the meantime, parts of Jakarta were hit by flash floods that originated in Bogor, Jakarta, on Thursday morning.
Kampung Pulo and Bidara Cina in East Jakarta were submerged in floodwaters that measured up to four meters. Rising waters of nearly a meter inundated Pancoran and Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta.
The flash floods from Bogor, West Java, forced 487 people in Kampung Pulo and Bidara Cina to evacuate to higher grounds.
Of the 487 evacuees, 430 were from Kampung Pulo while 57 belonged to Bidara Cina, stated Bambang Musyawardana of the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD).
They sought refuge in the health office and mosques there as floodwaters measuring up to 30 centimeters and four meters hit East Jakarta, he noted.
"Relief aid comprising food and medicines have been distributed by the health office while the BPBD is coordinating the relief efforts," he remarked.
In South Jakarta, the floods affected some 600 households and forced 268 residents to seek temporary shelter.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has warned the residents of Jakarta of possible flooding that may inundate the city in the third week of January 2015.
"The floods in January 2014 were lighter than that in January 2013. We hope it would be much lighter in January 2015, but the people must be ready to face the worst," the Deputy of the BNPB's Emergency Management, Tri Budiarto, pointed out on Tuesday.
On Wednesday evening, around midnight, the Bekasi River overflowed and inundated the residential areas along its banks.
The flood-affected residential areas included Pondok Mitra Lestari and Pondok Gede Permai housing complexes in Jatiasih Sub-district, Bekasi City, said a local resident, Tio, on Thursday morning.
Pondok Gede Permai was the worst hit as a dam there burst due to flooding, observed Kartono, another resident.
Floodwaters in Pondok Gede Permai reached heights ranging between 40 and 60 centimeters.
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