Years of Flooding in Depok's Kampung Bulak Suddenly Recedes Amid Infrastructure Works

Flooding that for years inundated the connecting road in Kampung Bulak, Cipayung, Depok, West Java, has now begun to recede. The Depok city government is still carrying out river normalisation and infrastructure repairs to ensure residents’ access is restored.

CNBC Indonesia observed at RT 4, RW 8, Bulak Barat, Cipayung, that officers from the Water Resources Task Force of the Depok Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency were installing gabions filled with river stones in the formerly flooded area.

Officers transported river stones and placed them into galvanised steel wire baskets measuring 2 metres. The gabions serve to hold back mud so that it does not cover the road surface again.

Residents’ houses that were previously in the area are no longer visible and have been vacated.

Two excavators were deployed to dredge the river. Mounds of earth around the site are material from the dredging. This condition means the bridge connecting the area still cannot be crossed because it is covered in mud.

Local residents welcomed the intervention. They hope that access, which had been closed by flooding for months, can soon be used again.

“For about 4 years the road has been closed by flooding, so residents chose to take a long detour via Pasir Putih,” a resident told CNBC Indonesia.

Previously, Depok Mayor Supian Suri apologised to residents of Kampung Bulak Barat who had been affected by flooding for years. In a statement quoted by Detikcom, Supian said the government was first addressing the waste problem, which is one of the issues in the area.

“I sincerely apologise to the residents of Kampung Benda who have repeatedly experienced flooding,” Supian said via his official Instagram account, @bangsupians, on Monday (11/5), as quoted by Detikcom.

Supian said the Depok city government would dredge the river and revitalise the bridge as a short-term measure to address the flooding. Meanwhile, the government is targeting waste-to-energy conversion starting in early 2028.