Flood Handling in Demak Accelerated: Central Java Provincial Government Focuses on Rehabilitation and Embankment Strengthening
The Central Java Provincial Government is moving swiftly to expedite the handling of flood impacts in Demak Regency. Strategic steps from the emergency phase, recovery, to long-term prevention are being pursued to ensure the Demak flood disaster does not recur in the future.
Based on monitoring on Tuesday (7/4/2026), the floods that hit eight villages in four sub-districts in Demak Regency have generally receded. Nevertheless, several points of pooling with heights of 10-50 centimetres are still visible on connecting roads, schools, places of worship, and other public facilities, which are hindering residents’ activities.
Conditions in the field show hundreds of school students forced to wade through floodwater to go to and from school. In fact, classrooms have been cleaned of mud and rubbish since Monday (6/4). On the other hand, several families are still holding out in evacuation centres due to losing their homes swept away by the flood currents since Friday (3/4).
Hundreds of personnel from the combined forces of BPBD, Police, TNI, and the Pemali Juana River Basin Authority (BBWS), along with volunteers and residents, are still struggling to strengthen the Tuntang River embankment. Heavy equipment is being deployed to patch points where the embankment has breached along 10 to 30 metres.
“We have already assessed it; now we are mapping it in detail again and calculating the needs. This handling cannot be done alone; it must involve collaboration between the regency, provincial, and central governments,” said Deputy Governor of Central Java, Taj Yasin Maimoen, during his inspection of the flood site in Demak on Tuesday (7/4).
Taj Yasin explained that this accelerated recovery involves various parties with diverse funding sources, from regional budgets (APBD), national budgets (APBN), Baznas, to the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI). Repair manpower is also bolstered by volunteers from various community organisations.
Although the water is starting to recede, one point of the embankment in Dukuh Solondoko was reported as not yet fully closed and briefly overflowed again. Emergency repairs were immediately carried out to anticipate a rise in subsequent water discharge.
Taj Yasin emphasised that the government’s focus moving forward is not only on rehabilitating houses but also on overhauling the Demak flood control system comprehensively. “The government does not want similar incidents to keep recurring. Improving the flood control system will be the main focus,” he asserted.
Concrete steps being prepared include strengthening river embankments from upstream to downstream as well as massive river revitalisation involving synergy between the central, provincial, and local governments to ensure the safety of Demak residents in the future.