Quake survivors struggle with water shortages

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 06/23/2006 3:40 PM

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bantul

A clean water shortage has started to hit areas devastated by the May 27 earthquake in Yogyakarta and its surrounding cities.

In many parts of the city, wells have dried up or have been buried under collapsed houses. Others can no longer be used since the water is mixed with mud.

""Most wells in my hamlet have dried up,"" Sukijo, a 59-year-old resident of Banguntapan in Bantul, the hardest-hit area in Yogyakarta said Thursday.

He said many residents have had to turn to bottled water for drinking and cooking or rely on government water tankers distributing clean water.

The water shortage has also affected hundreds of residents in Sumberjarjo village, Prambanan district in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, reaching as far as Gantiwarno district in Klaten, Central Java.

""My well used to be over 10 meters deep but after the quake, it has dried up,"" said Rubiman, a Nglepen hamlet resident in Sumberjarjo village.

The lack of water has forced many residents to line up at the remaining wells.

""Almost all of the wells has dried up and I have to line up at this remaining well for about two hours every day just to get enough water to drink and cook with,"" said Wartini, 37.

The water was murky and brackish. ""But what can I do since there is no water while there is no water distribution in the area. Although it is smelly, we have to use it, like it or not,"" Wartini said.

According to head of the natural disaster and earthquake mitigation division at the energy and mineral resources office, Surono, the dried well phenomenon is common following an earthquake.

""The quake shakes up the sediment layers. The new mix of soils makes it easier for the land to absorb water and hence the wells dry up,"" he said.

Some of the earth, he said was pushed upward, causing mud to be mixed with the water.

He suggested that residents whose wells had dried up build new wells instead of repairing the damaged ones by pumping everything out as it would create a hollow space underneath. ""It might collapse at some stage,"" Surono said.

The earthquake, which killed almost 6,000 people and left more than 200,000 people homeless, has also disrupted tap water services in Bantul regency as pipes connected to 25 percent of the regency's water sources were damaged.

""Our supply to around 12,000 customers is also disrupted, especially as many of our workers were quake victims, putting us in a much more difficult position,"" said Amiranto, a production staff at Bantul's tap water company.

He said the company was distributing clean water, with priority given to thousands of quake survivors in Bantul.

""Every day, 15 water trucks with a capacity of 4,000 liters each are deployed to areas experiencing a water shortage. They keep working to provide enough water for residents,"" he said, adding that the company is repairing damage to water sources.

Meanwhile, the Sleman regency administration is planning to relocate Sengir hamlet in Sumberjarjo, Prambanan district where the land has sunk four meters along with residents' houses following the quake.

Administration spokeswoman Sudarningsih said the relocation would be conducted soon to an area located a kilometer away.

-- With additional reporting by Sri Wahyuni in Yogyakarta.

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