They may claim to have done a lot to mitigate the flooding, but the fact that Jakarta has become more vulnerable to severe floods shows the flood-prevention policies have not been enough or have been too slow to anticipate the speed of environmental degradation endured by the city.

There can be no denial that environmental destruction has played a part, if not the major role, in causing and exacerbating the problem. The loss of water-catchment areas, the disappearance of green spaces to pave the way for construction of buildings and roads, the exploitation of groundwater and human occupation of river banks for housing despite the law prohibiting any construction within 15 meters of a waterway are among the contributing factors to Jakarta’s flooding.

Heavy downpours are at the bottom of the list as we cannot do anything about them. Cloud seeding may work but it only shifts the clouds that cause rain.

Blaming nature, as Governor Anies Baswedan did when he attributed the recent inundation in Jakarta to the flow of water from upstream in Bogor and Depok in West Java, contributes nothing to the much-needed solution to the acute problem. The most recent flooding should instead inspire greater discussion among the leaders of Jakarta and its satellite cities about a comprehensive and concerted effort to prevent major floods from recurring.

The past governors of Jakarta left flood-prevention infrastructure as their legacy to spare today’s city residents from the worst.

Ali Sadikin, who led Jakarta from 1966 to 1977, built the Setiabudi, Pluit and Melati dams, as well as dredging a number of rivers to normalize the flow of water from upstream to the sea. He intended to restore the whole drainage system but gave up the plan because of the hefty budget required.

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