Selasa, 24 April 2012

Danger of collapse looms over Pamulang lake dams

Sasak Tinggi Lake, Pamulang (JP Two man-made lakes that have long assisted flood control efforts in Pamulang, South Tangerang, are close to collapse amid the ongoing extreme weather, threatening tens of thousands of residents and their houses in the lower areas from Bambu Apus in Ciputat to Ulujami in Tangerang. The South Tangerang municipal administration has closed the 3-kilometer Ciputat-Pamulang access road on the banks of the Sasak Tinggi Lake since Friday after the lake overflowed several times, obstructing parts of the road and paralyzing traffic in the municipality. Residents fleeing the lake’s lower areas called on the South Tangerang administration to pay serious attention to repairing the cracking embankment to prevent it from bursting. “The municipal administration should suspend the planned mayoral election to enable it to pay closer attention to the problem that threatens thousands of houses and residents in the lower areas,” Pradipto, a neighborhood chief at the nearby Pondok Petir housing compound told The Jakarta Post Sunday. Authorities in Jakarta, South Tangerang municipality and Tangerang regency were urged to coordinate emergency measures to evacuate residents living in lower areas in an anticipation of a possible collapse of the Sasak Tinggi embankment, Cisadane and Ciliwung rivers management agency chief Pitoyo Subandrio said. “If the dike collapses, a flash flood will certainly sweep away thousands of houses and could kill thousands of people living near the Bambu Apus and Ulujami housing areas in Tangerang,” he said. The two lakes were created during the Dutch colonial era to control flooding from the Krukut River, but no measures have since been taken by authorities to convert them into functioning dams, Pitoyo said. He predicted that the lake’s embankment would collapse soon if it continues to rain heavily over the next few days, and called on Jakarta and the South Tangerang municipal administration to rapidly coordinate with the Bogor and Tangerang regencies to anticipate an emergency and immediately begin implementing damage control measures. People in Pamulang were relatively safe, at least for a short-term, because despite the overflows, the Pamulang lake’s dike has remained strong, Pitoyo added. University of Indonesia environmental expert Tarfun Wiryono agreed that coordinated measures were an urgent necessity to protect the safety of residents. The municipal administration apparently failed to learn from the Situ Gintung tragedy because precautionary actions have not been taken, he said, referring to the March 2009 tragedy that killed 100 people and flattened thousands of houses. The two lakes have been overflowing because they could no longer intercept water from heavy downpours, partially because of the conversion of 4,200 hectares along Krukut River for housing estates over the past decade, Tarfun said. “Beginning near the Billabong housing area in Bogor, the Krukut River winds through Pamulang, Bintaro and Ulujami in South Jakarta, Tangerang regency and North Jakarta. It has limited capacity to contain water to protect the numerous surrounding housing compounds,” he said. Both Pitoyo and Tarfun shared the same view that the root causes of the worsening condition of the lake were weak enforcement of the 2007 Zoning Law and neglect of control and inspection responsibilities by the local authorities. “The 60,000-hectare area along the Krukut River no longer has the open spaces to serve as water catchment areas capable of preventing flooding during the rainy season,” Tarfun said.

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