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Jakarta flood: Who's to blame?
Innovation and technology are one of the solutions that have been generally neglected in flood-mitigation efforts.
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Blue sky thinking: A public bus drives past an inundated section of a road near Warung Buncit market in South Jakarta on Oct. 15. Floods hit a number of areas across the city after heavy rains that day. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
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lood has become a constant headache for Jakarta for decades. The city is susceptible to the rise of the rivers and sea level during the high rainfall period. Efforts have been made to mitigate the risks, but the fact that floods continue to torment shows that we may be missing something.
Still fresh in our memory, we debated over “naturalization” and “normalization” of Jakarta rivers two years ago. And we have already seen the government take any path to save the capital city from flooding, but to no avail. So, who is to blame? Is it the government, the rain or ourselves?
The floods that frequent Jakarta only prove the irony that we are blessed with rich water resources but cannot manage the abundant resources.
Let us start with how simple mathematics can explain what has gone wrong. Jakarta flooding is commonly caused by high rainfall in the city or river overflow resulting from heavy rains in the upstream area.
Based on the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) data, the highest rainfall level was recorded in in Central Jakarta at 48.6 millimeters/day on Oct. 7. Taking into account Jakarta’s area of 660 square kilometers, we can estimate at least 32 million cubic meters of water poured into the city that day.
The question now is where did the water go? As open space only accounts for 10 percent of Jakarta’s territory; it is understandable that floods hit the city when heavy rain comes.
Such vulnerability is worsened by the overflow of the 13 rivers dissecting the city and the type of Jakarta's soil known for its low permeability. The rapid growth of urbanization has also exacerbated the risk of flooding. Global warming that causes sea rise means flood mitigation will become even more challenging for Jakarta.
