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'Clogged sewerage' to blame for flooding
Agnes Winarti and Triwik Kurniasari , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 01/14/2009 8:19 AM | Headlines
It now takes less than an hour of heavy downpour to turn some of Jakarta's streets into impassable waterways and to bring traffic to a grinding halt.
An official at the Jakarta Public Works Agency said Tuesday the city's clogged sewerage and waterways were the major cause of traffic in the city on Tuesday when monsoon rain brought Jakarta's roads to a virtual standstill.
“The garbage causes both micro- and macro-drainage systems in the city to only be able to perform at 50 to 70 percent of their capacities,” head of the agency Budi Widiantoro said.
He clarified that micro drains were 1- to 5-meter-diameter drainage pipes, and that macro drains were the city's major rivers.
He said because of the excess of garbage in the city's sewerage, water tended to overflow onto the streets in heavy rain. He said even without the blockages, the city's sewerage was inadequate to absorb protracted heavy rainfall.
It has proven incapable of absorbing the monsoon rain that has pounded the city over the last two days.
“The [city] only has the capacity to absorb a maximum of 50 millimeters of rainfall, and today there was more than 50 millimeters of rain,” Budi told The Jakarta Post.
In Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, 87 millimeters of rain had fallen in the last two days. The average annual rainfall for the city is 300 millimeters.
“It only rained for a moment but the intensity was very high,” he said.
Water boom: Children watch as high tides break against an embankment in Muara Karang, North Jakarta, on Tuesday. Heavy rain and high tides inundated large parts of the city and brought traffic to a stand still. JP/J. Adiguna
On Tuesday morning, the heavy rainfall broke a 25-meter-long dike near Artha Gading mall and a 15-meter-long dike next to the Telkom building, both on Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta.
“The broken dikes have been temporarily fixed using sand bags,” Budi said.
According to the Coordination Board for Disaster Mitigation's disaster center at City Hall, Rawa Terate in Cakung, North Jakarta, was inundated with 1 meter of water Tuesday morning.
Also, Kayu Putih area in East Jakarta was flooded in water as high as 50 centimeters, Cempaka Putih Timur in Central Jakarta took on 60 centimeters of water and Petogogan in South Jakarta was inundated with 20 centimeters.
The heavy rain created puddles on more than 30 main streets in the city, causing lengthy traffic jams.
As of the afternoon, water had inundated a number of main streets in the capital, according to the city police’s Traffic Management Center (TMC).
Muara Baru in North Jakarta suffered the highest water levels with 40 centimeters, Second Brig. David of the TMC said.
“Puddles could be found in some areas, mostly in North Jakarta, such as on Jl. Baru Ancol, Jl. RE Martadinata, East Kelapa Gading and Teluk Gong,” David told the Post.
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Blen (not verified) — Thu, 01/22/2009 - 1:14am
all these time, we'd like to blame the government from not taking care of the flood but not to forget the habit of our people who like to litter everywhere
we're talking about habit of hundred million people that contribute those clogs to the waterways. from those sellers at traditional market who throw the waste to the sewerage, to the "mobil borju, mental babu" who likes to throw plastic/tissue from their BMW window
its about simple things, as "no littering" yet hard to do. as i type this, i can recall the sound of the plastic cup hitting the ground, as the guy next to me, at the bus stop. throw it away after he finished drinking from it, this evening. and do we all complain about the flood?
Den Haag (not verified) — Wed, 01/21/2009 - 1:08am
This is must be a joke,,nowsday.,,just look around jakarta, is there any more proper drainage system ?
You probably can find some of them around Kota (the legacy of dutch planning)but not those so called 'newly build areas'
The current developer and city government disregard the importance of proper drainage system.neither it bother to keep the exististing drainage functioning and existing water holding zone intact.
Just look at the development at Kelapa Gading area and many more, all those natural wet lands are being sold and converted hastily without proper consideration for the environment and people.
What they care more just profit and fast sale.
And urgent rewamp of the city planning rules and regulation need to be implemented urgently.
We are not even experiencing the full impact of 'GLOBAL WARMING due to sea rising' JAKARTA already drowning due to our careless planning and disregard of environment.
Stop blaming the problem as 'NORMAL NATURAL DISASTER", all this are man made disaster!! we need the real action now. Where are all the government, dont you hear city resident are crying out in despair ??
PAK HUD (not verified) — Thu, 01/15/2009 - 3:14am
HERE'S MY PLAN TO REPAIR DAMAGED DIKES; JUST TAKE ALL THOSE JUNKER TIMOR CARS THAT OUR "FRIEND" TOMMY SUHARTO IMPORTED AS PART OF HIS "INDONESIAN AUTO SCAM" AND STUFF THEM INTO THOSE AREAS THAT NEED REPAIR.
Bingung (not verified) — Wed, 01/14/2009 - 9:03am
When was the last time the drains were cleaned of blockages? Why doesn't this happen every week in the months before the monsoon season? And when will people understand that when they throw rubbish in drains, the direct result is them being flooded with sewage next time it rains?