Heaptalk, Jakarta — Recently, Puri Bintaro’s residents in South Tangerang have complained regarding the high frequency of flooded issues occurred in the area, despite the construction of retaining walls.
“We have taken multiple measures, from the existing retaining walls revitalization, the stone pairs with reinforced concrete replacement, to widening the river cross-section of up to 6.5 – 7 meters in the Cibenda river,” said Communications and Information Services (Diskominfo) of South Tangerang, Ahmad Syatiri.
As a part of mitigation measure, the South Tangerang has also constructed nine reservoirs to address the flooding issue. These nine reservoirs built are Lengkong Karya, the Griya Asri Retention Pond in North Serpong, the Kampung Bulak Retention Pond, Pondok Aren, Sawah Lama 1, Sawah Lama 2, and the Serua Riverpark Reservoir in Ciputat District.
In addition to reservoirs establishment, South Tangerang Mayor, Benyamin Davnie, delivered that his party continues to build dikes, revitalize drainage systems, and undertake various other measures.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Water Resources, Highways, and Construction Department (DSDABMBK), Robby Cahyadi, explained that the construction of reservoirs is one of the strategic ways to reduce flooding. The handling principle id divided into two stages.
In the first stage, which occurs before the flooding, is divided into two parts: efforts to retain or hold back rainwater before entering rivers. Moreover, the rivers current condition has significantly decreased in capacity compared to the rainwater discharge.
“We try to retain as much rainwater as possible before it enters the rivers by absorbing it into the ground through expanding green open spaces, parks, infiltration wells, and retention ponds in the environment, as well as increasing the number of retention ponds or reservoirs,” he explained.
In the next stage, regional government broaden the cross-section of the river or increase the river’s capacity through riverbed leveling by building retaining walls and regularly dredging sedimentation through river maintenance.
“During the flood, we optimize the operation of pump stations and deploy field officers to directly go to the flood points. Then, we clear up and repair any damaged infrastructure after the flood,” he concluded.
