The flooding in many parts of the city, caused by heavy downpours over the past three weeks, reached major thoroughfares around the State Palace compound in Central Jakarta on Wednesday morning

According to the City Police'€™s Traffic Management Center, around 30 centimeters of water inundated Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat and Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur.

The State Palace, the Supreme Court and other vital buildings such as public radio station RRI, the Constitutional Court, the Coordinating People'€™s Welfare Ministry and Gambir Station are in this area.

In January last year, floods entered the palace'€™s ground, resulting in a famous photograph depicting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa in pants rolled up to their knees and legs half immersed in the flood'€™s murky water.

Taufik, a security officer at the National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta said the water inundated Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in front of the State Palace and the park gate.

'€œThe water was about 10 centimeters high when I arrived here around 7 a.m.,'€ he told The Jakarta Post, adding that vehicles were still able to pass the road but traffic congestion was noticeable. He said the water had receded quickly. As of 3 p.m., he only reported minor flooding surrounding the park.

The strategic sites on the main thoroughfares around Monas are protected by the Manggarai sluice gates, which hold back floodwater from upstream areas in Bogor, West Java.

Head of water system management at the Public Works Agency in Central Jakarta, Herning Wahyuningsih, said the flooding around Monas was caused by overflowing storm drains and not by the opening of the sluice gate.

'€œThe inundation was caused by excessive rainwater in the connecting drains in Abdul Muis and Ciliwung Kota,'€ she said as quoted by kompas.com.

Flooding also hit shopping areas such as in front of Cempaka Mas shopping mall in Central Jakarta and ITC Mangga Dua shopping center in North Jakarta.

It also paralyzed Jl. Gunung Sahari in front of WTC Mangga Dua shopping center in North Jakarta where police officers and soldiers used trucks to help people cross the flooded section of road.

The overnight rain also disrupted commuter trains in the capital as water inundated a number of stations and also blocked some Transjakarta bus corridors.

City train operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ) spokesperson Eva Chairunnisa said the flooding forced KCJ to close Jakarta Kota and Kampung Bandan stations in West and North Jakarta respectively.

As of Wednesday, the floods had displaced 16,135 people who were taking refuge in over 60 shelters in 21 subdistricts.

The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) has been salting clouds to reduce the intensity of rainfall in the capital since Jan. 14.

'€œA Casa plane arrived last Thursday, so it will add to the frequency of the weather-engineering project,'€ BPPT artificial rain technical unit head F. Heru Widodo told the Post by telephone.

He said two planes had been expected to operate four times a day, but in practice, they would only fly three times daily for safety reasons as they could not fly in heavy rain.

The weather modification is a joint operation between the BPPT, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and the Air Force.

The BNPB has earmarked Rp 20 billion (US$1.6 million) for the two-month weather-modification project, up from Rp 13 billion last year.

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