Drizzle marks no heavy rain to drop soon
Drizzle marks no heavy rain to drop soon
Leony Aurora
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The drizzle poured in several areas in Jakarta in the past week
marks only the transition period from dry to wet season, says an
official of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG).
"Rain of low intensity occurred sporadically and lasted less
than 30 minutes," Achmad Zakir of BMG's forecast division said on
Friday.
Rain usually started in the south followed by the west, east,
central, and finally the north part of the capital, he explained.
"Currently it falls only in South Jakarta and sometimes in
West Jakarta," he added.
Hard wind is expected during this transition period and in the
first month of the rainy season, forecasted to begin early or mid
November.
The monthly rainfall in the wet season would not exceed the
average level, said Zakir. However, as flood is related with
daily intensity of precipitation, the possibility of flooding
still looms.
"People should clean their neighborhood and the dredging (of
rivers and canals) need to be completed thoroughly," he said.
It takes only 75 mm of rain a day over three consecutive days
to cause floods in Jakarta.
The Jakarta administration has announced that it would hold
drills for disaster mitigation in the second week of October to
anticipate the reoccurrence of heavy floods and to increase
public awareness.
Two years ago, the capital witnessed the worst floods in its
modern history, with as many as 168 of 262 subdistricts swamped.
The calamity claimed at least 31 lives, forced more than 300,000
residents to leave their homes, and paralyzed transportation for
days.
The administration is counting on the planned East Flood
Canal, which will link with the existing West Flood canal, to
ease annual flooding. However, it has stumbled upon people's
resistance to sell their lands to proceed with the future canal's
construction.
As of last year, the East Jakarta administration had managed
only to acquire 62 hectares of 183 hectares that it is assigned
to. North Jakarta had acquired only 5.2 hectares of a total 78.5
hectares.
Meanwhile, Tangerang administration has prepared Rp 6 billion
(US$654,664) in anticipation of floods this year, Antara news
agency reported.
The fund would be used to dredge mud in Cisadane river and to
build flood retaining walls, said Tangerang mayor Wahidin Halim.
The administration would also clean out the garbage in Sipon
river, which flows across the municipality.
There are 47 flood-prone areas in Tangerang, which are
inundated by water between 50 cm and 120 cm deep. Like Jakarta,
the municipality often has to face excess water flowing down from
Bogor, which hosts the upper stream of Cisadane river, and Puncak
in West Java.