Jakarta is beginning to feel the pinch as the city’s water shortage begins to take effect and water sources dry up amid the prolonged dry season.

Trees on Jl. Gereja Ayam in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, have died from a lack of water. Central Jakarta Forestry Agency head Mila Ananda told wartakota.tribunnews.com on Monday that many trees and plants in the city had died as a result of a water shortage, particularly in heavily concreted areas that did not allow the plants to access water sources.

“In this dry season some plants and trees in green spaces have indeed died or are suffering from a lack of water,” Mila said adding that the agency would increase the use of water tank trucks to keep the plants alive.

Residents at the upscale Pantai Indah Kapuk residential area in North Jakarta have also found difficulties in accessing clean water because the developer of their clusters did not have access to the city’s piped-water system.

Hakim, the head of community unit (RW) 7, said that in the last five years, water did not come out from their houses’ faucets every dry season. He suspected that was because the water source for the area was from nearby rivers.

“Automatically, during the dry season the river also dries out,” Hakim said as reported by tempo.co.

Hermanto, the head of neighborhood unit (RT) 12, said the developer, which the residents refused to name, had tried to help the residents by distributing water through water tank trucks, although the water was cloudy and salty.

He said the water provided by the developer to families in the area was not sufficient to meet the residents’ needs, with only between one and four water tank trucks coming into each cluster daily.

RT 11 head Bambang Irwanto said the residents in his area had also complained about the water scarcity.

“In my Whatsapp group chats, I ask around who wants water from the water trucks. There are up to 50 families in my area that need them,” he said.

The residents urged the developer to cooperate with Jakarta tap water company PAM Jaya to get access to the water pipeline to help them cope with the dry season if the situation continued.

Meanwhile, some of the residents of Kapuk Muara and Kamal Muara in North Jakarta have brought their plight to the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction at the Jakarta Legislative Council.

One of the residents, Oscar, said the residents had experienced water shortages in the past five months, putting a strain on their daily activities.

“Every dry season we find it hard to get clean water,” Oscar said as reported by kompas.com, while once again declining to name the developer of the housing area.

He said some of the residents in Kapuk Muara and Kamal Muara got their water from water treatment plants of their residential complexes’ private developers, as the water pipeline from PAM Jaya had not reached them yet.

He said that up to 10,000 residents were affected by the situation.

He said the residents had held discussions with the Jakarta administration, which had not yet provided any solution.

Oscar expected that their meeting with city councilors would trigger discussions between the administration and the private developers on solutions for the affected residents.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned that up to 15 districts in Jakarta will experience water shortages in this year’s dry season. The districts comprise Menteng, Gambir, Kemayoran and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta; Makasar, Pulogadung and Cipayung in East Jakarta; Tebet, Pasar Minggu and Setiabudi in South Jakarta; and Lalu Cilincing, Tanjung Priok, Koja, Kelapa Gading and Penjaringan in North Jakarta.

The BMKG had predicted that the peak of the dry season would be in September and that rain would start falling in some areas in the country, including Jakarta, in October.

The Jakarta administration has created a task force consisting of 1,162 personnel from various city working groups (SKPD), the Tagana emergency response unit and local community units and neighborhood units to help distribute water to residents in need.

Residents can also report to the 112 hotline if their area experiences water shortages.

Meanwhile, at the Bogor Botanical Gardens in Bogor, West Java, a Didymoplexis pallens, or crystal bell orchid has bloomed, signaling that the dry season may end soon.

A researcher at the gardens, Sofie Mursidawati said the leafless orchid usually bloomed only for a day at the beginning of the rainy season or the end of the dry season. (ami)

— Theresia Sufa from Bogor contributed to this story.

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