Kulon Progo extends drought emergency alert status until 31 December

The Kulon Progo Regency Government, Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), has extended the Drought Emergency Alert Status to face the prolonged 2026 dry season, effective from 1 October to 31 December 2026.

“The emergency alert status for the drought disaster has now been officially extended,” said the Head of the Kulon Progo Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Setiawan Tri Widada, in Kulon Progo on Tuesday.

He stated that the extension refers to adjustments in weather forecasts from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), which predicts that the dry season will persist until the end of the year due to the El Niño phenomenon.

As of Monday (28/9), Setiawan noted that the Kulon Progo BPBD has distributed 387 tanks of clean water to 121 points spread across 7 sub-districts (kapanewon), 23 villages (kalurahan), and 64 hamlets (padukuhan).

“This assistance has reached 2,537 heads of households (KK) or approximately 6,552 individuals,” he said.

“We have proposed an additional allocation of around 300 tanks from the Revised Regional Budget (APBD Perubahan), which is currently being processed,” added Setiawan.

Support for managing the clean water crisis has also been provided by the Kulon Progo Police and the DIY Regional Police Brimob unit, which have deployed water treatment vehicles.

Kulon Progo Police Chief AKBP Ridho Hidayat explained that these vehicles are equipped with machines to process raw water into water that is ready for direct consumption by communities in the drought-affected areas.