A man using the pump to control the flood. (Image via Trubus)

Preventing flood, Jakarta prepares 470 pumps

Jakarta Government is anticipating the flood by preparing some pumps distributed throughout the capital of Indonesia. Currently, the Water Resources Agency has prepared four pumps. Moreover, five stationary pumps are also prepared. From the end of January 2021, in total, there are 479 stationary pump units at 178 locations with the capacity of 50-500 liters per second prepared.

Quoted from the official YouTube account of the Communication, Information, and Statistics Agency of Jakarta, in West Jakarta, there are 132 units distributed in 46 locations; in North Jakarta, 126 units in 48 locations; in South Jakarta, 86 pumps in 40 locations; in Central Jakarta, 87 units in 23 locations, and in East Jakarta, 39 units in 21 locations.

The person in charge of Cideng Pump House in Central Jakarta, Atot Arta, stated that during the drought season, his team still took care of the pumps. The routine stays until the rainy season so that the pumps are prepared and ready to be used to their maximum capacity. Moreover, Atot stated that the pumps are used to a specific extent. If the water level is high enough, then the pumps can be shifted in 24 hours.

Atot also asked the people of Jakarta to participate in preventing the flood. One of which is by not throwing trashes into the river so that the water may flow smoothly. Previously the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) issued its flood warning for 14 provinces. For Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek), BMKG predicted rainfall with light to moderate intensity for a week, from 1 to 7 February. Moreover, the rain is expected to fall at night until dawn, afternoon, and evening.

Deputy Head of Meteorology at BMKG, Guswanto, explained that according to the normal data, the peak of the rainy season in Jakarta will be from the end of January to early February with an accumulation of around 140mm/month. For the West Java region, including Depok and Bogor, the peak of the rainy season will take place in the same period with the same accumulation.

Previously, the worst flood in Jakarta happened in 2007 ago. At that time, on 1 February 2007, almost 70 percent of Jakarta are flooded, causing 80 deaths and 320,000 evacuees. The Governor of Jakarta at that time, Sutiyoso, stated that there were at least three major flood factors in Jakarta: rainfall, water from the upstream, and coastal flooding at Jakarta's northern coast preventing the river from flowing to the sea.

Source: https://bit.ly/2MLQl2k