"City of a Thousand Ditches" Flooded, Pontianak Reviews Drainage Master Plan

To deal with inundation, the Pontianak City Government is reviewing the drainage master plan and educating the public.

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

Flooding on one of the roads in Pontianak City, West Kalimantan, Thursday (28/3/2024).

PONTIANAK, KOMPAS — Inundation often occurs in a number of locations in Pontianak City, West Kalimantan, during heavy rain. To overcome this, the Pontianak City Government will review the drainage master plan and educate the public not to throw rubbish into ditch.

A recent flooding occurred in the city of Pontianak, precisely on Wednesday night (27/3/2024), due to heavy rain. Several roads and houses were affected by 10-45 centimeter floods. This is suspected to be caused by suboptimal functioning of the ditches. Environmental observers consider this contrasting amidst Pontianak's nickname as "the city of a thousand ditches" (Kompas.id, 28/3/2024).

Regarding the inundation that often occurs in the capital of West Kalimantan during heavy rain, Acting Mayor of Pontianak, Ani Sofian, Friday, said that there are a number of policies that the Pontianak City Government will implement to overcome inundation. Next year, the Pontianak City Government will review the existing drainage master plan.

Meanwhile, the remaining channels are still being maintained to function properly. The way to maintain existing channels is through normalization and routine maintenance.

"There is also construction and improvement of drainage channels," he said.

The Pontianak city government also targets the addition of green open space (RTH). However, Ani has not yet detailed how much RTH area will be added in the future and where the locations will be. According to data provided by Ani, the current area of RTH in Pontianak city is 1,319.3 hectares (ha) out of the total area of Pontianak city which is 11,820.9 ha.

He said that education and socialization to the community about not throwing garbage into the ditch is also included in the future plans. This is important to ensure that the ditches in Pontianak are not clogged with garbage.

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

A ditch in Sungai Putat, North Pontianak District, Pontianak City, West Kalimantan, on Sunday (13/10/2019). The Putat River creation plays a role in being a solution for saving the ditch.

Communities engaged in environmental issues, including canals and peatlands, actually exist in the city of Pontianak. One of the community initiatives for the preservation of canals is the Putat River Creation (KSP) in North Pontianak District.

According to the Chairman of Kreasi Sungai Putat, Syamhudi, the agenda for cleaning and mutual cooperation has been collaborated with the sub-district and neighborhood units (RW). The sub-district and RW then scheduled a clean-up of the ditches.

Currently, KSP is more focused on assisting management regarding information on ecosystem governance. In that context, KSP also reminds the public that if they neglect ditches and peat ecosystems, it will threaten the sustainability of the city.

This city is built on peatland. Therefore, inevitably, it must be friendly towards how to maintain the peatland area as a groundwater absorption area.

Also read: A Thousand Trenches in Pontianak

KSP is a forum for community discussions on environmental activism. Seeing the flooding in several locations in the city of Pontianak that occurred from Wednesday night until Thursday morning yesterday, KSP reminds us again that this city stands on peatlands. Therefore, whether we like it or not, we have to be friendly in maintaining peatlands as a retention area.

"Then, we come back to how to preserve the ditches," said Syamhudi.

She observed that there have been several locations where the ditches have disappeared or been reduced in size. In the past, Pontianak did not use the term "drainage", but had knowledge of the existence of ditches in the city with a width of at least 1 meter. Some were even larger than that. However, now, ditches that only serve as boundaries between houses are only 20 cm wide.

"Meaning, ecologically speaking, we are now losing to the wisdom of our elders in the past. In the past, the community was more adaptable to environmental conditions. How can we restore the character of the city as a city of a thousand canals," he said.

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

Puddles of water were seen on one of the roads in Pontianak City, West Kalimantan, Monday (31/10/2022).

The same sentiment was expressed by the Executive Director of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) of West Kalimantan, Hendrikus Adam. According to him, the recent flooding contrasts with Pontianak's nickname as the "city of a thousand canals". This raises questions as to whether the canals in the city are actually functioning properly.

This means that something is wrong, especially with the drainage system which is not optimal due to blockages. Therefore, it is important to optimize the function of the ditches. In addition, ensuring the absorption area of water, especially green open spaces, is in good condition.

Also read: Inundation Still Threatens Pontianak City