Located in the equator, Indonesia by nature only has two seasons: rain and dry seasons. These past weeks, people in certain areas in Indonesia have been suffering from drought.
News on how villagers must travel for kilometers away from their homes to reach the remaining spring are put on the media every day. They have to struggle to get a few liters of clean water – sometimes they can only get murky water.

This phenomenon did not only happen in areas outside Java. Even in Java island, particularly in Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta, the areas experiencing drought have been increased from seven districts to currently 18 districts.

From the existing 262 ponds in those districts, more than half have been dried.

Academicians, NGOs, private firms through their CSR programs and local administrations had tried to green the area by planting more trees but those efforts could not help villagers during the dry season.

The Gunungkidul administration and the central government have tried to overcome the issue by, among others, providing clean water through mobile tanks or making new wells. The administration sent 28 water tanks every day during the dry season to villages impacted by the drought. [yan]