Huckleberry friend: A man paddles his boat at Telaga Warna Lake in Puncak, Bogor, West Java. JP/Theresia Sufa

“Hello, Sir. How deep is the water at Katulampa at the moment? I need to move my things out before it arrives,” asks a squatter living on the banks of the river Ciliwung in Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta.

Andi Sudirman, an officer of Katulampa sluice gate in Bogor, West Java, is getting used to fielding this question.

“Sometimes, they ask me to close the sluice gate because they think it will help ease the flooding in the already inundated capital,” Andi told The Jakarta Post recently.

“I have to repeatedly explain that we can not control the water at Katulampa from flowing down as it serves only as a monitor of the river table rather than a dam to control the flow of river water.”

The 104-meter wide Katulampa gate, built in 1911 during the Dutch occupation, is used by the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation task force to monitor river levels in the hills above Bogor.

High levels at Katulampa gate often spell trouble for Jakarta. Officials estimate that it takes between 12 and 14 hours for water to flow from Katulampa to Manggarai sluice gate in South Jakarta; giving residents enough time to respond to flood warnings.

The source of the water is Warna Lake in Puncak, Bogor. The 7,156 square-meter, 15-meter-deep lake is a natural water reservoir, which is surrounded by forests home to hundreds of macaques.

The water flows down along 12 tributaries through Bogor and Depok feeding Ciliwung River, which bisects Jakarta.

During Dutch rule, the river naturally irrigated 7,145 hectares of rice paddies in Greater Jakarta.

But, things have changed.

Ade Basir Baesuni, an environmental activist, said the source of the river was now in critical condition because forests in Puncak and Bogor had been cut down to make way for massive holiday villas and buildings, and rice fields had been converted into residential areas.

“People have even constructed houses on river banks,” Ade said.

“Previously, we did not experience floods or landslides in Puncak. But now, we experience them recurrently,” said Ade, who is also a leader of a farmer’s association in Megamendung, Puncak.

Naik Sunukaban, a river expert at the Bogor Agriculture Institute, said the area was also suffering a clean water shortage.

“Bogor and Depok above Jakarta experience water shortages now, even on rainy days. Something that never happened before,” Naik said.

The damaged forests in Puncak are no longer able to retain large amounts of water.

During the rainy season, about 1.5 billon cubic meters of water flows to the sea. The rice paddies, meanwhile, have shrunk to 449 hectares from 7,145 hectares during Dutch rule.

“We need to replant the areas. Otherwise, the conditions will worsen,” Ade said.

“The Bogor Regency administration also needs to impose stricter regulations to curb the conversions of large areas here into buildings.”

Deterioration near the source of Ciliwung River has been compounded by dumping by residents who live near the river.

The Post spotted Nunung, a resident of Babak Pasar in Bogor, throwing trash into the river.

“I only do this [disposing trash into river] once in a while,” he said.

“The garbage bin is full. The garbage men haven’t come to collect the trash. They are always late.”

Iwan Suwanto, an official at Cisarua district in Bogor, said he found it difficult to persuade local residents from throwing garbage into the river. The diminishing powers of the highlands to absorb water spell trouble for Jakarta, 40 percent of which lies below sea level.

Another officer at Katulampa, Muhamad Awan, said he was not convinced environmental degradation was the cause of flooding in Jakarta.

He said Jakarta had flooded due to heavy rainfall and high tides even when the water level at Katulampa was below average.

Popular

Number of forcibly displaced people dips to 118 million: UN

Hundreds of kitchens halt services due to 'pause' in free meals funds

Retail sales, consumer confidence ease as Idul Fitri boost dissipates