Drought and Clean Water Crisis Spreads to 10 Districts in West Java

The drought and clean water crisis in West Java continues to spread, with the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) reporting that 10 districts have now been affected. As of Monday (20/7), the disaster has impacted 79 villages across 46 sub-districts, with the total number of affected residents reaching 130,014. BPBD Jabar spokesperson Hadi Rahmat stated that the agency has so far distributed 1,767,000 litres of clean water to the affected areas, a figure expected to rise as the dry season persists. The affected districts include Bogor, Bekasi, Tasikmalaya, Pangandaran, Karawang, Cianjur, Purwakarta, Sukabumi, and Garut. In Bogor Regency, the crisis has hit 42 villages in 19 sub-districts, while in Bekasi Regency, 9 villages across 4 sub-districts are suffering from water shortages. The drought has also caused wells in many remote villages to dry up, with some residents reporting that their wells, at depths of 20 to 25 metres, have run dry. The BPBD has urged residents to conserve water by turning off taps when not in use, repairing leaky pipes, and using buckets instead of hoses for washing vehicles. The agency is focusing its water distribution efforts on the most severely affected villages and on post-disaster recovery.