A number of regions in the country have reported the onset of drought conditions as the prolonged dry season drags on, while other regions have started to enjoy their first rainfall in months.

The 23 regencies and cities across East Nusa Tenggara have still reported no rain, with droughts hitting some parts of East Manggarai regency on Flores Island since June.

East Manggarai secretary Bonifasius Hasudungan said he had discussed on Sept. 10 with officials from the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Food Agency as well as Public Works and Housing Agency to cope with drought in the regency.

“I have instructed the head of the BPBD for more intense patrols by its officers. Meanwhile, the Public Works and Housing Agency will be on standby to help if there is a water emergency,” Bonifasius told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Three villages in Sambirampas district, East Manggarai, have reported that residents cannot get clean water and must line up to get water from wells in nearby villages.

“As an emergency step, I have sent water tanker trucks there because water sources in these three villages have dried up. We are also looking for long-term solutions that can be inserted in the 2020 budget,” he added.

BPBD East Manggarai head Antonius Dergong said that although the agency had yet to formally report a drought in Sambirampas to the local administration, it would distribute clean water to the area if residents reported that they experienced difficulties in getting water.

“Some areas in East Manggarai have indeed been hit by drought. There has not been any rain until now. The administration has advised East Manggarai residents to anticipate drought in all villages and to report it to the East Manggarai administration,” he said.

Antonius said that it was not unusual for the dry season to last until October in Manggarai, but it would be abnormal if the dry season lasted until November.

In Panggungrejo, Blitar, East Java, at least 1,000 people including local residents, members of religious organizations and local civil servants participated in istisqa (mass prayers) to call for rain on Monday morning.

The prolonged dry season has affected thousands of residents in dozens of villages across Blitar, especially in the southern part of the regency. Residents in nearby regencies such as Tulungagung, Trenggalek and Pacitan have also reported drought in their areas.

BPBD Blitar head Heru Irawan said that drought had hit at least 11 villages in the four districts of Binangun, Wates, Panggungrejo and Wonotirto.

The agency has helped to distribute clean water to the affected villages in the past few months.

“Every day, we drop off two tanks of clean water, each with a capacity of 6,000 liters. Each tank can provide water twice a day, so the BPBD distributes up to 24,000 liters of water,” Heru said.

Blitar Regent Rijanto said drought had spread to more areas in Blitar, and that it was a reminder for residents to work toward a more environmentally friendly development strategy.

“If we protected the environment, our water sources should still be flowing even during a prolonged dry season like this,” Rijanto told the residents after the prayer.

The southern part of Blitar, which is the most badly affected, is dominated by arid hills and karst mountains. Residents have said that this year’s dry season is worse than the previous year's.

Sri Winarsih of Kalitengah village in Panggungrejo, said that she had to spend Rp 60,000 (US$4.23) per cubic meter for clean water for washing. For residents living in remote areas with limited access, the water could cost up to Rp 100,000 per cubic m.

“Each cubic m of water we use frugally so it can last for a week. It usually runs out before a week,” Sri said, adding that local residents had found difficulties obtaining clean water since July.

Sri said that she had to buy drinking water in refillable water containers for cooking, and while she was grateful for the local administration’s efforts, she noted that sometimes clean water was not distributed regularly each week and each household usually only got two to four buckets of water.

Meanwhile, residents of Balikpapan in East Kalimantan have made use of recent downpours in the area to store as much water as possible.

“Thank God this is a blessing in the morning, right at the time when it’s hard to get water,” said Muhammad Sulthon, resident of Batu Ampar in North Balikpapan on Monday.

“It’s raining, let’s store the rainwater,” Sulthon told his neighbors to do the same as he was able to collect up to 1,200 liters of rainwater in his water tank.

With the rainwater supply, Sulthon said he could save money as he did not have to purchase clean water priced at Rp 80,000 per jerrican from a street vendor.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Balikpapan said that the rain had started to fall in the city at the end of September and especially in the early mornings.

“[The rain] is localized,” said BMKG Balikpapan weather forecaster Carolina Sibarani.

The southern part of the city had enjoyed rainfall during afternoons and evenings, while the northern parts were cloudy with some rain, given that the Sungai Wain and Sungai Manggar protected forests acted as rain catchers, she added.

“We can say that the rainy season has arrived in Balikpapan,” Carolina said. (ami)

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