To Overcome Flooding, City Deploys Personnel and Pumps

Heavy and long-term rainfall fell in the Jakarta area since Friday (3/22) early morning. It was reported that extreme rainfall occurred in Semanan, West Jakarta, with an intensity of 212 mm/day, and at Pompa Tanjungan, North Jakarta, with an intensity of 208 mm/day.

We're trying and synergizing various methods to anticipate and minimize inundation that occurs

Responding to this matter, the Jakarta Provincial Government has deployed personnel and pumps to inundated areas in order to minimize its impact due to extreme weather.

Jakarta Water Resources Agency (SDA) Acting Head, Ika Agustin Ningrum said the task force and infrastructures had been alerted to handle inundation, starting from stationers and mobile pumps.

Jakarta Quickly Handles Inundation

Stationary pumps help drain water in areas experiencing land subsidence, while mobile pumps are used to deal with inundation in various locations that are difficult to reach by stationary pumps.

"Our personnel are still trying to minimize the impact of the heavy rain that occurred since early morning. We're trying and synergizing various methods to anticipate and minimize inundation that occurs. Starting from building and strengthening flood control infrastructure, such as reservoirs, strengthening embankments, and polder systems, and increasing regional drainage capacity. The Jakarta SDA Agency is also actively optimizing the operation of facilities and infrastructure, such as pump houses, sluice gates, and other heavy equipment," she explained, in the Jakarta Government's press release, Friday (3/22).

Based on data as of March 15, 2024, the SDA Agency has prepared 580 stationary pumps, 557 mobile pumps, and 845 sluice gates spread across various strategic locations. Then, there are 254 units of heavy equipment, 460 dump trucks, and 4,226 blue troops who are ready to face the impact of this rainy season.

The SDA Agency also maintains operational quality by carrying out routine maintenance on the pumps.

According to her, flood control infrastructure in Jakarta was designed to deal with extreme rainfall with a limit of 150 mm/day for macro infrastructure and 100 mm/day for micro infrastructure.

Hence, the agency also routinely conducts dredging in rivers, reservoirs, and channels to remove mud, thus the capacity of the channels remains optimal in holding water to minimize inundation during the rainy season.

"Principally, we're always alert and strengthen coordination with all parties such as the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), mayors, sub-district heads, urban village heads, RT/RW, as well as stakeholders and other regional apparatus organizations (OPD) to speed up flood handling and minimize risks that occur," she explained.

Therefore, Jakarta Provincial Government calls on the public to remain alert considering that the weather is still cloudy. Aside that, the public can monitor the latest information regarding areas affected by flooding and inundation, as well as the status of water sluice heights via the links https://pantaubanjir.jakarta.go.id, https://poskobanjirdsda.jakarta.go.id, JAKI application, or Twitter or X account @BPBDJakarta, as well as Jakarta Siaga 112 Call Center if you need further assistance.