Banten Police Deploy Water Cannon to Tackle Drought-Induced Water Crisis

Serang (ANTARA) - Banten Regional Police (Polda Banten) have repurposed tactical water cannon vehicles, normally used for crowd control, into clean water transport fleets to help tackle the clean water crisis caused by the dry season.

Banten Police Chief Inspector General Hengki, in Serang on Thursday, said the tactical vehicles have been optimised and are part of a 64-unit fleet deployed to distribute a total of 502,000 litres of clean water to six sub-districts in Serang Regency affected by the drought.

“A total of 502,000 litres of clean water has been distributed, including by maximising the use of the National Police’s tactical water cannon vehicles, to meet the needs of communities in six sub-districts experiencing a clean water crisis,” Hengki said.

In addition to deploying the water cannon vehicles, the Banten Police Chief also used the occasion to issue a stern warning regarding the potential for secondary disasters during the dry season, namely forest and land fires (karhutla), which are predicted to threaten the region until early October.

Hengki urged residents to completely refrain from clearing land by burning or carelessly discarding cigarette butts, which could potentially trigger new fire hotspots.

“Please make use of the National Police Call Centre 110. Every report from the public, whether related to fire incidents or clean water emergencies, will be followed up immediately,” he explained.

“Today we see dozens of vehicles, including water cannon vehicles, being used to distribute clean water to the public. This is an extraordinary form of concern initiated by the Banten Regional Police,” he said.

He expressed hope that this tactical innovation and collaboration can inspire regional government agencies (OPD) at the regency and city levels to maximise all available resources to assist residents affected by the drought.