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Greater Jakarta braces for harsher dry season as El Nino looms over Indonesia
A clean water crisis has begun to affect people in several parts of the capital as the dry season this year coincides with the El Nino phenomenon.
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A resident walks along the bank of the West Flood Canal in the Petamburan area of Central Jakarta on Friday. The waterway carries less water than normal as the dry season has begun. (Antara/Aprilio Akbar)
A clean water crisis has begun to affect people in several parts of the capital as the dry season this year coincides with the El Nino phenomenon, which is known to prolong the dry spells.
“The dry season will be harsher than in 2018 but not as bad as in 1997 or 2015, because the El Nino is on a weaker scale,” Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesman Harry Tirto told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
In the El Nino phenomenon, the weather changes due to rising water temperature in the Pacific Ocean, which in Indonesia’s case can cause extreme drought.
El Nino showed its full force in Indonesia in 1997 and 2015, when a short wet season was followed by constant forest fires and haze in Sumatra and Kalimantan, forcing an emergency response from the central government. In 2015, the country recorded its worst-ever haze crisis, which damaged 2.6 million hectares of peatland and forest territory, claimed the lives of 24 people and caused respiratory problems for hundreds of thousands. The fires also angered the neighboring countries of Singapore and Malaysia.
El Nino has reared its ugly head again, as evidenced by drought in parts of the city.
Nationwide, southern parts of Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi are among the worst-hit areas.
The BMKG has forecast that some areas in Jakarta, such as Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, Pakubuwono in South Jakarta, Pulogadung in East Jakarta and the area around the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta, will go without rain for 21 to 30 days.
