Mall blamed for water scarcity

JAKARTA: A city official alleged that Taman Anggrek mall and condominium in Grogol, West Jakarta could have violated an agreement on the use of groundwater resulting in a water shortage in the surrounding area.

"An initial estimation why the groundwater has subsided is because Taman Anggrek sourced its water from the same depth as most of the people living nearby," said D.K. Manurung, an official at the city mining agency on Tuesday.

Manurung, the head of the groundwater department at the agency, however, said that a thorough study should be conducted to know the real cause of the shortfall.

He was commenting on the protests made by people living around Taman Anggrek last week. They said that they had to deepen their wells from 20 meters to some 30 meters.

Head of the city mining agency Muzahiem Mochtar said that technically, if Taman Anggrek had drilled its wells deep enough, it would not affect the availability of groundwater in the adjacent areas.

"If Taman Anggrek had drilled to 150 meters, there would be no problem. People living nearby would still have an adequate supply from a depth of 50 meters," said Muzahiem during a hearing with the City Council's Commission C for economic affairs.

Agoeng Widodo, an official at the mining agency who is in charge of controlling the groundwater use, said if Taman Anggrek violated an agreement on the groundwater use, the agency would issue a warning to its management.

"If they ignore our warning, we will revoke the permit for using groundwater," Agoeng added.

Environmental scientists have long understood the problems associated with the over-exploitation of groundwater, which can include water scarcity, seawater intrusion and land subsidence.--JP