Gunungkidul Declares Drought Emergency Status Until August

The Gunungkidul Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) has established a drought emergency alert status from 1 June to 31 August 2026 as a precautionary measure against the impacts of the dry season. Head of BPBD Gunungkidul, Purwono, stated that the status determination was made through a regent’s decree on the drought emergency alert. “The submission letter has been delivered to the regent and has received the regent’s signature,” Purwono said in Gunungkidul on Tuesday. He explained that the three-month drought emergency status refers to the forecast from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), which predicts the peak of the drought will occur in August. “According to BMKG’s forecast, the peak of the drought will be in August, June will start to dry, July will be drier, and August will be the peak,” he said. Purwono added that BPBD Gunungkidul has prepared a number of vehicle fleets to anticipate emergency situations and to fulfil requests for clean water distribution in the region. He noted that no formal requests for water distribution have been received by BPBD yet, but all necessary handling requirements have been prepared since early June. “Our fleet is ready should an emergency situation occur or if there is a request for water distribution in the Gunungkidul area. Although no request letters have been submitted to BPBD so far, we have prepared everything,” he stated. He confirmed the BPBD fleet is in good condition after maintenance and is ready to operate at any time if needed. Purwono explained that BPBD Gunungkidul has four special vehicles, all water tanker trucks with a capacity of 5,000 litres each, ready to distribute clean water to remote areas. “All four fleets are tanker trucks with a 5,000-litre capacity,” he said. In addition to the fleet, BPBD Gunungkidul has also prepared 800 clean water tanks, each with a capacity of 5,000 litres, totalling approximately 4 million litres of clean water for drought management. “800 tanks multiplied by 5,000 litres, so we have prepared around 4,000,000 litres of clean water,” Purwono said.