The Long History of Bekasi Floods, from the Company to the Present Day

Flooding has not only occurred recently; it has affected this area since before the colonial era. So, what lessons can be learned from thousands of years of flood experience?

Extreme weather that hit the Jabodetabek agglomeration area caused quite severe flooding in the Bekasi area.

On Tuesday (4/3/2025), 13 sub-districts were submerged in the areas of Bekasi City and Bekasi Regency. As a result of this disaster, thousands of residents were affected and had to evacuate.

Based on historical research, traces of flood disasters in the Bekasi area and its surroundings have been evident since at least the 5th century AD, or more than two thousand years ago.

According to a study by Wibowo and Rosalina in 2019, this was discovered from records found in the Tugu Inscription written during the Tarumanegara Kingdom era.

The inscription mentions the excavation projects of the Gomati River and Candrabhaga carried out by King Purnawarman to address the flooding issues in the area.

This flood disaster apparently continued into the Dutch colonial period. This aligns with research by Surya Zainul Lutfi in the Journal of History and Culture titled "The History of Bekasi Floods 1924-2002."

Based on the study, there were at least five major floods in the Bekasi area from 1924 until the end of the Dutch colonial period.

A major flood occurred in 1924 around Bekasi Station up to Tambun. As a result of this flood, access between Bekasi and the Karawang area was cut off.

Not only that, the flood also disrupted communication services. Telegraph services in the Bekasi area were cut off. Furthermore, train travel passing through the area was also disrupted as the railway tracks were submerged in water.

Two years later, a major flood also hit the Bekasi area. In 1926, floods inundated several areas such as Tambun and Lemah Abang. Similar to the flood in 1924, the incident caused the road between Bekasi and Karawang to be closed.

Furthermore, floods also occurred in 1932. At that time, the floods that occurred were relatively larger with a wider affected area. At that time, floods hit areas such as Cikarang, Tambun, and Lemah Abang.

The impact caused by this disaster was severe. At that time, access between Karawang and Bekasi was cut off. In addition, residents' houses and farmland were submerged in water due to the flood. It is no wonder that the losses experienced by the affected community were not small.

During this time, floods came one after another every year. A year later, a major flood also occurred in the Bekasi area. In 1933, areas such as Tambun, Lemah Abang, and Cikarang were flooded.

The flood that occurred also caused a number of impacts such as submerging residents' houses and land, disrupting communication networks, disrupting access between Karawang and Bekasi and the Cibitung water gate breaking.

Shortly after, floods hit the area again. Specifically, water pooled in the Lemah Abang and Cikarang areas. As a result, access between Karawang and Bekasi was cut off.

From the long history of flooding in the Bekasi area, the government should be able to learn lessons to end this chronic natural disaster.

Unfortunately, thousands of years have passed, starting from the royal regime, colonial, Old Order, New Order to Reformation, flooding has always been a problem faced by the residents of the area.

The experience of previous governments shows that partial efforts seem unlikely to have a significant impact on flood control in this area.

It is not only a matter of technical solutions, such as engineering the watershed around Bekasi, but also a solution is needed in social and formal legal aspects.

The reason is, a Kompas report in February 2023 showed that there was overlapping authority for resolving flooding in this area.

In fact, floods do not recognize administrative boundaries, so steps taken by one of the affected district/city governments will not be effective if they are not supported by the surrounding local governments.

For example, the floods that occur in the Bekasi area are often water flowing from other areas such as the Bogor area.

So in this case, the mitigation efforts that can be carried out by the local government in the Bekasi area may not be able to optimally prevent flooding whose problem lies upstream.

Ultimately, historical records show that flood management efforts must be carried out comprehensively by all governments in the affected areas.

Policy makers must be willing not to get caught up in sectoral egos and must be creative in order to penetrate the bureaucratic confines that create mitigative and corrective steps so that this problem can be resolved immediately. (Litbang Kompas)