Fuel Price Hike Slashes Clean Water Aid for Central Java Drought Relief by 70 Percent
The need for clean water relief in a number of drought-stricken areas in Central Java is expected to rise in August, yet the availability of clean water for relief has been cut by 70 per cent, from 123–129 million litres to 44–46 million litres, owing to the increase in fuel prices.
According to Media Indonesia’s monitoring on Sunday (19 July), the number of areas affected by the dry-season drought in Central Java continues to expand, with 16 areas now having declared drought emergency status. The provision of clean water relief for affected residents continues to increase across 15 areas, including Cilacap, Banyumas, Purbalingga, Banjarnegara, Purworejo, Magelang, Boyolali, Klaten, Sukoharjo, Sragen, Grobogan, Jepara, Demak, Semarang Regency and Pemalang.
To date, the Central Java Provincial Government has distributed 3,258,000 litres of clean water (660 tankers) to 30,378 families (81,297 people) in the drought-affected areas. With August and September expected to mark the peak of the dry season, the need for relief water is anticipated to grow further.
“For August, the need for clean water relief in drought-affected areas is estimated to reach 4 million litres,” said the Head of the Central Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Bergas Catursasi Penangggungan, on Sunday (19 July).
According to Bergas, although the available supply of relief water should in theory be sufficient to face the dry season and the drought disaster, the 70 per cent cut has created a problem.
He explained that the clean water relief supply had initially been prepared at 123–129 million litres in line with the available budget, but the fuel price increase forced a 70 per cent reduction, leaving only 44–46 million litres available.
Before the conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Bergas continued, the Central Java BPBD had planned to prepare 123 million litres of clean water relief for this year’s dry season, but the figure shrank because operational costs and personnel expenditure rose following the fuel price increase.
After distributing some 3.2 million litres of relief water, Bergas added, the remaining clean water relief the Central Java BPBD can still channel to drought-hit areas stands at around 40 million litres, as the fuel price rise has forced the agency to make adjustments.
He expressed hope that by October, November and December, rain would begin to fall in the areas currently affected by drought, so that the need for clean water relief would decline or even fall to zero. “We have to revise and adjust our operational costs going forward,” he added.
Elsewhere, as of Friday (17 July 2026), 56 families comprising 173 people in Pamoyanan, Plered District, and 446 families comprising 1,349 people in Batutumpang Village, Tegalwaru District, were experiencing clean water shortages.
Based on mapping, 27 of the 31 districts in Bandung Regency have entered drought emergency alert status.
The Sukabumi municipal government has declared drought emergency status, effective from 1 July to 30 September 2026.
Some 12,956 residents in Banyumas are experiencing a clean water crisis due to the dry season. The Banyumas BPBD has channelled 195,000 litres of water to 14 affected villages.
The clean water crisis caused by the prolonged dry season in Banjarnegara has spread to 11 villages. The BPBD has distributed 1,030,000 litres of clean water to thousands of affected residents.