Prepare Mitigation in Puncak

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Ciliwung River flow in the Cipayung area, Bogor Regency, West Java, on Monday (1/2/2021).

The weather anomaly due to La Nina has the potential to cause hydrometeorological disasters in Puncak, West Java. Disaster mitigation can minimize risks.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS —The National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) Disaster Information and Communication Data Center head, Raditya Jati, said the weather anomaly driven by the La Nina phenomenon had the potential to cause hydrometeorological disasters in Puncak, West Java.

Also read: Elegy for early 2021: Upstream Landslides, Downstream Flooding

With regard to this, locals and tourists must be on the alert of the threat of landslides, floods and flash floods. "They must identify the locations that have the potential for landslides, floods and flash floods," Raditya said when contacted, Wednesday (3/2/2021).

This is important because tourists usually do not recognize the areas, including disaster evacuation routes.

Raditya urged managers of tourist attraction sites, hotels and villas to prepare disaster mitigation for the tourists. This is important because tourists usually do not recognize the areas, including disaster evacuation routes.

The Bogor Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) recorded that there were 16 disasters dominated by landslides since the beginning of 2021. Throughout 2020, there were 1,338 disasters, the majority of which were landslides (427).

The head of the Bogor Regency BPBD, Dede Armansyah, said information on disaster preparedness had been given to the public. The potential for disasters due to bad weather is expected until the end of February or early March. "We have urged the managers of outdoor tourism areas to monitor conditions during bad weather. For tourists, it\'s best to postpone visits when rain intensity is high due to the potential for disaster," said Dede.

Kompas/Irene Sarwindaningrum

The overflow of water from Ciliwung River that had inundated Rawa Sepat in the area of Cililitan Kecil, East Jakarta, began to subside on Tuesday (6/2) afternoon. Floods in the densely populated area had reached a depth of two meters on Monday, forcing residents to evacuate.

The head of the subcoordination for climate analysis and information of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Adi Ripaldi, said, the peak of the rainy season in Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara occurred in January-February 2021. "La Nina has taken place since August 2020 on a weak to moderate scale and is predicted to last until May 2021," he said.

Since a long time ago

Puncak has been prone to hydrometeorological disasters for years. Environmental damage is one of the triggers. In fact, during the Dutch East Indies colonial period, damage to the Puncak area had an impact on the downstream of Ciliwung River. Restu Gunawan in the book The Failure of the Canal System: Control of Floods in Jakarta from Time to Time, said deforestation had caused Ciliwung River to overflow and resulted in damages to the Katulampa Dam in 1911.

Similar incidents happened again in the Gunung Mas area, Puncak, Cisarua, Bogor, June 13, 1998.

Flash floods and landslides in early 2021 are expected to occur again. Kompas recorded that the same disasters occurred frequently in the 1990s. On March 20, 1992, a landslide in Puncak cut off access from Jakarta to Bandung. Similar incidents happened again in the Gunung Mas area, Puncak, Cisarua, Bogor, June 13, 1998.

Also read: South Kalimantan Flood a Gloomy Picture of Natural Destruction

After the 2000s, hydrometeorological disasters in Puncak did not stop. On Jan. 9, 2013, a cliff on Jalan Raya Puncak, Cianjur, collapsed and killed six people.

Hotel and restaurant managers in Puncak are aware that hydrometeorological disasters due to environmental damage have an impact on their business. "Even though the flash floods are located about 7 kilometers from our location, it has an impact on the decreasing occupancy rate," said Dian from the public relations division of the Royal Safari Garden Hotel.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Several villa buildings in the Puncak recreation area in Tugu, Cisarua, Bogor Regency, on Wednesday (19/8/2020).

The threat of disaster also made Eman Bayu, the manager of Villa Panton Pauh in Cipanas, Cianjur, worried about the possibility of losing his job. He is aware that the construction of large-scale tourist attractions without paying attention to the carrying capacity of the environment threatens their business.(FRD/SKA/DIV/ ERK)

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).