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Poor drainage, housing blamed for floods in Jambi city
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A boy rides his bicycle through flood waters and past inundated traditional houses in Pelayangan district, Jambi, on Tuesday, March 7. Hundreds of houses along the banks of the Batanghari River were flooded following high intensity rains in recent days.
(Antara/Wahdi Septiawan)
P
oor drainage and rapid housing development in Jambi are blamed for being the main factors behind the worsening floods in the city, an official has said.
There are at least 25 areas flooded every time there is heavy rain, said M. Yunus, the head of water resources at the Jambi Public Works Office.
He said the poor drainage was made worse by trash piling up inside the system, especially during high-intensity rain. The agency recorded that the 25 habitually flooded spots are spread throughout eight districts, including Talang Banjar, Palmerah, Jelutung, Kotabaru and Telanaipura.
“What we can do to prevent bigger floods is to clean trash from the gutters, especially in the markets and densely populated areas,” he said on Thursday.
The rising number of new residential complexes in the city also caused floods as places that used to be water catchment areas had been turned into housing complexes, Yunus added.
His office would coordinate with the provincial Public Works Agency to improve the mostly shallow drainage systems. (rin)
