Focus and be serious about handling floods

Jabodetabek was hit by floods again. Dozens of rivers overflowed, even from the upstream area. Part of the largest agglomeration area in Indonesia was paralyzed.

There are malls, markets, stations, settlements, and even asphalt sections submerged. There are roads and bridges that have collapsed. Landslides in the upstream area in Puncak, Bogor, have occurred again.

As emphasized in the Editorial on February 1, 2025 and in a series of flood-related reports since years ago in this daily, flooding is not a new thing in Jakarta and its surroundings. In historical records, flooding is said to have occurred since the 5th century AD.

Jakarta is crossed by dozens of rivers with downstream areas lower than sea level. The rivers that originate in Puncak are less than 100 kilometers downstream on the shores of Jakarta Bay. This short distance and steep elevation difference cause the river water to flow rapidly and rapidly downstream whenever heavy rain falls upstream.

As part of the natural landscape, hundreds of lakes are scattered throughout the area. Downstream, swamps complete the system that stores water during the dry season and during the rainy season.

When the natural landscape is changed, converted, into housing and other human activity centers, water continues to take its place again every time the rain comes. A phenomenon occurs that humans call recurring disasters. The scale of the disaster is getting bigger as the imbalance between the river's capacity and the increase in water discharge due to extreme rain and land conversion continues to be allowed. Damage to the river basin from upstream to downstream is like a chronic disease for which the cure is known, but has not been completely cured.

As a result of this neglect, restoring the balance of nature has become an increasingly difficult task because now we have to take into account the needs of tens of millions of people who crowd Jabodetabek. However, relying solely on physical infrastructure, such as pumps and polders, dams and dams, river concreting, has proven to not solve the problem.

This kind of disaster actually does not only hit Jabodetabek. There is Karawang which is adjacent to Bekasi which is also repeatedly flooded. The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) previously warned that extreme rain could potentially occur in many areas in Indonesia in early March.

However, only after the flood hit, the government's promise to immediately coordinate across regions to overcome the flood was uttered again. The public and experts reminded of the importance of political will followed by immediate implementation so that the disaster could be resolved. An environmentally aware spatial plan by providing the widest possible water space alongside human habitation integrated from upstream to downstream must be in place and implemented firmly.

It is hoped that this time the government's steps are truly serious. Not just limp and evaporate after the flood dries up.