Water shortage makes life hard in Bandung<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
Much of Euis Saripudin's time is spent getting water. The
\n46-year-old resident of Sindangjaya village, Arcamanik district
\nof Bandung, must always be on the alert for water flowing through
\nthe drain in front of her house, especially during the dry
\nseason.<\/p>\n
If she hears water in the drain, she quickly opens a valve
\nconnecting it to a shallow well about five meters away in front
\nof her house.<\/p>\n
The water flowing from the river atop Sindanglaya hill to the
\ndrains below is of great importance to Euis and hundreds of
\nSindangjaya residents because wells in the area had dried up ever
\nsince factories and luxury housing estates were built in the
\nUjungberung area of the Bandung basin.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the wells started to dry up during the 90s,\" said the
\nmother of seven.<\/p>\n
Residents -- who cannot afford to buy water from mobile water
\ntraders -- depend on the river water flowing into the drains
\nduring the dry season.<\/p>\n
The method that Euis and her neighbors use to filter the drain
\nwater is to channel it to a pond near their wells so the water
\ncan be purified by seeping through the layers of soil and
\neventually into their wells. This method of water retrieval has
\nbeen used by the government as a model for absorption wells in
\nBandung.<\/p>\n
The difficulty in getting water is not only caused by the dry
\nseason, but also by the excessive use of water by industries and
\ncommercial activities including hotels and malls.<\/p>\n
Based on data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
\nResources, the excessive use of ground water in the basin area
\nhas significantly deteriorated the ground water conditions there.<\/p>\n
Head of the Ground Water Conservation Office, Danaryanto, said
\nthat they began recording data about ground water conditions in
\nthe Bandung basin area in 1977.<\/p>\n
\"At that time, we drilled about 100 meters into the ground in
\nthe Citarum river valley area. Water spurted upward as high as 20
\nmeters then. But now in the Rancaekek area here, for example,
\nthere is not a single drop of water after drilling for 250
\nmeters,\" he said.<\/p>\n
When calculated, the water level in a number of industrial
\nareas within the Bandung basin area was found to have dropped to
\naround 100 meters over a period of around 27 years.<\/p>\n
The condition has been declared critical because the water
\nlevel has dropped more than 60 percent.<\/p>\n
The ground water reserve in the Bandung basin area alone is
\nonly 108 million cubic meters per year, but Danaryanto said the
\ngovernment had not yet provided industries with tap water. As a
\nresult, the factories still pump ground water for their
\noperational needs.<\/p>\n
A researcher from the agency, Agus Taufik, discovered eight
\nlocations where sinkholes had appeared because the ground water
\nwhich had previously supported the surface layers of soil had
\nbeen siphoned out, and this had created underground cavities
\ncalled cone depressions.<\/p>\n
The worst affected area is located in South Cimahi, where the
\nland surface has sunk at least 52.4 centimeters, according to
\ndata recorded in 2000.<\/p>\n
Seven other locations experiencing the problem are Dayeuhkolot
\n(45.8 centimeters), Rancaekek (24.9 centimeters), Banjaran (17.9
\ncentimeters), Bojongsoang (19.1 centimeters), Majalaya (15.9
\ncentimeters), Braga (8.4 centimeters) and Ujungberung (6.6
\ncentimeters).<\/p>\n
An investigation conducted by the agency on factories since
\n1976 showed that 686 drilled wells which pumped out around
\n300,000 cubic meters of ground water annually, existed in South
\nCimahi area in 1976.<\/p>\n
The amount of wells increased preceding the economic crisis of
\n1998. The industrial boom caused the number of drilled wells to
\nreach 2,387, with the highest volume of ground water pumped
\nreaching 77 million cubic meters.<\/p>\n
The closing of numerous factories during the economic crisis
\nhas somewhat alleviated the pressure on ground water resources.<\/p>\n
In 2003, the number of drilled wells in the Bandung basin area
\nhad dropped to 2,258, decreasing the amount of water siphoned to
\n50 million cubic meters.<\/p>\n
The West Java administration has considered relocating the
\nfactories to Cipeundeuy in the west of Bandung regency, where
\ntheir impact is expected to be less damaging.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/water-shortage-makes-life-hard-in-bandung-1447893297",
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