Preserving the banks of Bengawan Solo

Budi who was born and raised on the banks of the Bengawan Solo, is aware of the risk of flooding. So he became a disaster mitigation volunteer and works actively to preserve the riverbanks by planting vetiver.

KOMPAS/ERWIN EDHI PRASETYA

Sri Mahanani Budi Utomo

Thousands of vetiver grasses grow today on the banks of the Bengawan Solo (Solo River) in Sewu subdistrict, Jebres district, Solo, Central Java. Budi and other volunteers planted the grass, which prevents soil erosion and landslides along the riverbank.

"Planting began in 2016 for disaster mitigation," Budi, who chairs the Community-Based Disaster Preparedness (Sibat) program of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), said on Tuesday (4/2/2020) in the Sewu subdistrict of Solo.

Budi began his volunteer career with the Solo Disaster Mitigation and Evacuees Management (PBP) in 2006.Budi has been interested in community volunteering since he was a child, when he saw volunteers from Solo’s Sebelas Maret University (UNS) searching for a child who had drowned in the Bengawan Solo in Sewu. In 2007, the Bengawan Solo overflowed to cause major flooding Solo, including the area where he lived. The event made him aware of the importance of disaster mitigation.

Planting began in 2016 for disaster mitigation.

Budi joined the Flood Resilience Community in 2015, a collaborative program run by the PMI, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Zurich Insurance and the Solo municipal administration.

He was appointed as the chair of the PMI’s Sibat program in Sewu subdistrict, which later became known as Sibat Sewu.

Sibat Sewu has undertaken a number of disaster risk reduction programs, including building 28 infiltration wells and around 400 biopores in Sewu. Making the wells and biopores was not easy, because the area is almost devoid of open land.

"There are many obstacles, especially because most lanes are paved or laid with concrete. The area is also densely populated, so there is not enough open space," said Budi, whose house faces the banks of the Bengawan Solo from a distance of about 50 meters.

KOMPAS/ERWIN EDHI PRASETYA

Sri Mahanani Budi Utomo

Community involvement

In 2016, Budi and Sibat Sewu volunteers planted 1,000 vetiver seedlings to establish a greenbelt along the banks of the Bengawan Solo in Sewu. The seedlings were provided by the PMI in cooperation with the IFRC and Zurich Insurance. More and more seedlings are being planted, and involves not just Sibat Sewu volunteers, but also secondary school students to instill an awareness of the environment in the children.

In addition to Sewu, Sibat volunteers are also planting vetiver along the banks of the Bengawan in Sangkrah, Semanggi and Pucang Sawit subdistricts. Unfortunately, the belt of vetiver plants in Sewu was severely damaged by heavy equipment in 2017, during the construction of the Bengawan Solo revetment.

Budi saved some of the plants for replanting. He also searched for additional vetiver seedlings along the riverbank in Semanggi. Although the greening project aimed to reduce the flood risk, Budi admitted that it had not been easy to get the residents to come together as a single community to participate in the project.

In the past, when the Bengawan Solo was overflowed, the  people evacuated individually above the embankment.

"When making the greenbelt of vetiver on the banks of the Bengawan Solo, we need to clear the brush in the area. Well, we invited the residents but they thought they would get paid. But they are not. Only the people who realized the importance of the activity eventually participated in it," he said.

Today, local awareness is growing and the vetiver-planting movement has developed. In November 2019, the PMI Solo Sibat program along with local residents and UNS students (including foreign students) planted new vetiver in the Semanggi greenbelt, which had been damaged by fire. Elementary school students were also invited to plant the grass along the riverbank in Sewu.

Budi and Sibat Sewu volunteers also carried out other disaster risk reduction efforts by mobilizing and empowering the local residents with the know-how on what to do in the event of a flood. Evacuation routes are also established.

"In the past, when the Bengawan Solo was overflowed, the [affected] people evacuated individually above the embankment. Now, the [evacuation] management is more coordinated," he said.

KOMPAS/ERWIN EDHI PRASETYA

Sri Mahanani Budi Utomo

Budi also uses Facebook to invite more people to become involved in Sibat Sewu’s activities. He shares information on disaster risk reduction activities through the Sibat Sewu Command Post Facebook account, and appeals to people to care more for the river. Social media is also used to fight the occasional hoaxes that spread in the community regarding the flood risks of the Bengawan Solo.

For his volunteer work in Sibat Sewu, Budi was awarded the Champion Ambassador of Sibat in the men’s category at the PMI’s Sibat II National Gathering 2017. Under his leadership, Sibat Sewu was awarded the PMI’s Champion Innovator Award for Ecosystem Management and Environmental Conservation.

Budi is also active in several river cleanup activities in Solo. Together with his colleagues at the Pekarya Bengawan Solo Management Agency, he regularly cleans the garbage that pollutes the rivers in Solo, including the Kali Pepe, Premulung and Kali Kebo, as well as the Bengawan Solo. Budi has collected thousands of disposable diapers from the rivers, and even a bed mattress. "The worst is the Kali Kebo. We cleaned hundreds, even thousands, of diapers from under the bridge," he said.

Here, we can enjoy the beauty of the Bengawan Solo.

Many people throw away diapers into the rivers because of a superstition that diapers must be disposed of in a wet environment and must not be burned, or the baby will develop a hot, itchy rash. Another superstition is that used goods must be thrown away in the river to get rid of bad luck. The mattress, pillows and clothing of the recently deceased, for example, are dumped into the river.

"This issue requires a cultural or religious approach in educating the public. It is not enough [coming] from just environmental activists," said Budi.

Budi said he dreams of seeing a clean river one day. He has beautiful memories from when he was a child, when the banks of the Bengawan Solo were a playground. He dreams of reviving the riverbank as a public space where children can play, exercise or just relax. His dreams are slowly beginning to become a reality.

Brush and other vegetation were cleared along the revetment so the adjacent area could be used for jogging or walking. The vetiver greenbelt in Sewu has been fitted with two precast concrete pipes as chairs and tables.

"Here, we can enjoy the beauty of the Bengawan Solo," he said.

Sri Mahanani Budi Utomo

Born: Solo, 31 July 1975

Education:

- SMA Karyawan Solo (unfinished)

- SMPN 14 Solo

- SD Negeri Beton 183 Solo

Wife: Reni Ida Susanti, 45

Children: Two

Occupation: T-shirt printing