Suspected Culprit Behind Pondok Aren Floods in South Tangerang Linked to Changes in Ciputat River Flow
SOUTH TANGERANG, KOMPAS.com - Changes to the flow of the Ciputat River in the Bintaro area of South Tangerang City (Tangsel) are suspected to be one of the causes of flooding in the Pondok Aren region, particularly around Maharta and its surroundings.
“That is Maharta and its surroundings also flooded. That’s the effect on northern Pondok Aren, because that’s the Ciputat River flow,” said Ahmad Syawqi, Chairman of the Special Committee for the Regional Regulation Draft on Spatial Planning (RTRW) of the Tangsel DPRD, when contacted by Kompas.com via WhatsApp on Thursday (23/4/2026).
At that time, the special committee found changes to the river flow that did not match its natural condition.
“Yesterday we found changes to the river flow in the river body in Pondok Aren,” he said.
The Ciputat River has two flows. However, one of those river flows is now suspected to no longer function because it has been cut off and its current redirected to the Pondok Aren area.
According to him, these changes have impacted the water flow capacity during heavy rain. This is what has caused several areas in Pondok Aren to be inundated by floods.
“The effect is certain, high water discharge if the rainfall is high,” he added.
In fact, the redirected Ciputat River flow should have flowed towards the Bintaro Xchange Mall (BXc).
Meanwhile, the path that the river water should have taken is now empty, overgrown only with wild plants.
Due to this redirection, the Tangsel City DPRD has summoned three representatives from the developers to provide information at a Hearing Meeting (RDP) at the DPRD City Building on Wednesday (22/4/2026).
In the meeting, the Special Committee requested documents related to the river flow changes, including obligations to hand over assets as compensation.
However, those documents have not yet been submitted to the Special Committee and are still in the process of being collected by the developers.
“This incident has been happening since 2011, it should have been resolved by now,” he said.