City grinds to a standstill after tropical downpours

City grinds to a standstill after tropical downpours

JAKARTA (JP): Yesterday's torrents caused inundation in many
areas and left thousands stranded in bus shelters as traffic was
paralyzed.

On main streets such as Jl. Gajah Mada, Jl. Merdeka Selatan,
Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto, vehicles crawled
as the street under Semanggi bridge was inundated.

The flooding, with the water level reaching about 20
centimeters high, occurred during the afternoon rush hour when
many people were returning home from work.

The condition worsened when radio frequencies used by police
were disrupted by unauthorized people.

The rain started in the afternoon and lasted until 6 p.m.

A trip from Slipi to the Palmerah market, which normally takes
10 minutes, lasted 30 minutes.

Many people chose to brave the rains rather than wait for
public transportation.

Gutters that were not large enough to accommodate water
contributed to the flooded streets.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja urged Jakartans to participate in
handling floods instead of merely considering floods as a routine
occurrence.

"Without public awareness ... all our programs in dealing with
floods will not be effective," Surjadi said.

He said the public should refrain from throwing garbage into
the rivers or building homes on riverbanks.

This year, the city's programs to anticipate floods, with the
support of the central government, include river dredging,
building riverbanks, adding water pumps in low-level areas and
preparing flood gates in the rivers.

The city allocated Rp 15 billion (US$6.52 million) to dredge
12 rivers, including the Ciliwung, Cideng and Grogol rivers,
while the central government dredged five rivers. (yns/bsr)