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Jakarta Post

Hit hard by drought

Thu, September 7, 2017   /   09:21 am
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    Banteng lake at Ngricik village, Gunung Kidul regency, Yogyakarta, has dried up during the dry season and force villagers to find clean water in other locations. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    Cracked soil in the bottom of the Banteng lake. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    Villagers put the water, which they get from other locations, in buckets and jerrycans to separate the mud and the clean water. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    The water spring in Banteng lake has become the villagers’ sole hope. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A woman takes water from the last water spring at Banteng Lake. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    An elderly gets water from the last water spring at Banteng Lake. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    Another villager takes water from the last water spring at Banteng Lake. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A woman goes home carrying a jerrycan and a bucket filled with water. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    An old woman carries two jerrycans filled with water on her back to bring them home. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A villager carries home two jerrycans filled with water. JP/Aditya Sagita

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    A staff of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Gunungkidul regency distributes clean water by using a mobile tank at a shelter of Semugih village in Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta. JP/Aditya Sagita

Located in the equator, Indonesia by nature only has two seasons: rain and dry seasons. These past weeks, people in certain areas in Indonesia have been suffering from drought.
News on how villagers must travel for kilometers away from their homes to reach the remaining spring are put on the media every day. They have to struggle to get a few liters of clean water – sometimes they can only get murky water.

This phenomenon did not only happen in areas outside Java. Even in Java island, particularly in Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta, the areas experiencing drought have been increased from seven districts to currently 18 districts.

From the existing 262 ponds in those districts, more than half have been dried.

Academicians, NGOs, private firms through their CSR programs and local administrations had tried to green the area by planting more trees but those efforts could not help villagers during the dry season.

The Gunungkidul administration and the central government have tried to overcome the issue by, among others, providing clean water through mobile tanks or making new wells. The administration sent 28 water tanks every day during the dry season to villages impacted by the drought. [yan]