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Save it for a rainy day: Thousands of infiltration wells built in Greater Jakarta to hold floodwater
Annual flooding has prompted local administrations and residents to dig infiltration wells to restore the ground’s ability to hold water.
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A person drives a motorcycle down a flooded road in Kemang, South Jakarta, on Dec. 10, 2018. (JP/Iqbal Yuwansyah)
E
xtensive development in Greater Jakarta has caused swaths of land to subside and has undermined the ground’s ability to hold water. This has resulted in drought during the dry season and flooding during the rainy season.
This annual cycle has prompted local administrations and residents to create infiltration wells to restore the ground’s ability to hold water.
Last year, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan issued Governor Instruction No. 131/2018 on the acceleration of infiltration well construction in a bid to better manage rainwater and groundwater.
The instruction ordered building owners throughout the city to dig and manage their own infiltration wells to prevent rainwater from flooding surrounding areas.
In addition to privately owned buildings, the city asked state and city offices, schools, hospitals and other public buildings to follow suit.
Residents have also taken the initiative to dig their own infiltration wells.
Ana Rosdianahangka, who lives in a complex of 11 houses in the Sukmajaya district of Depok, West Java, said her neighborhood had benefited from the well that was built in her area.
