'Clogged sewerage' to blame for flooding

Agnes Winarti and Triwik Kurniasari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 01/14/2009 8:19 AM 

It now takes less than an hour of heavy downpour to turn some of Jakarta's streets into impassable waterways and to bring traffic to a grinding halt.

An official at the Jakarta Public Works Agency said Tuesday the city's clogged sewerage and waterways were the major cause of traffic in the city on Tuesday when monsoon rain brought Jakarta's roads to a virtual standstill. 

“The garbage causes both micro- and macro-drainage systems in the city to only be able to perform at 50 to 70 percent of their capacities,”  head of the agency Budi Widiantoro said. 

He clarified that micro drains were 1- to 5-meter-diameter drainage pipes, and that macro drains were the city's major rivers. 

He said because of the excess of garbage in the city's sewerage, water tended to overflow onto the streets in heavy rain. He said even without the blockages, the city's sewerage was inadequate to absorb protracted heavy rainfall. 

It has proven incapable of absorbing the monsoon rain that has pounded the city over the last two days. 

“The [city] only has the capacity to absorb a maximum of 50 millimeters of rainfall, and today there was more than 50 millimeters of rain,” Budi told The Jakarta Post. 

In Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, 87 millimeters of rain had fallen in the last two days. The average annual rainfall for the city is 300 millimeters. 

“It only rained for a moment but the intensity was very high,” he said. 

 

 Water boom: Children watch as high tides break against an embankment in Muara Karang, North Jakarta, on Tuesday. Heavy rain and high tides inundated large parts of the city and brought traffic to a stand still. JP/J. Adiguna

 

On Tuesday morning, the heavy rainfall broke a 25-meter-long dike near Artha Gading mall and a 15-meter-long dike next to the Telkom building, both on Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta. 

“The broken dikes have been temporarily fixed using sand bags,” Budi said. 

According to the Coordination Board for Disaster Mitigation's disaster center at City Hall, Rawa Terate in Cakung, North Jakarta, was inundated with 1 meter of water Tuesday morning. 

Also, Kayu Putih area in East Jakarta was flooded in water as high as 50 centimeters, Cempaka Putih Timur in Central Jakarta took on 60 centimeters of water and Petogogan in South Jakarta was inundated with 20 centimeters. 

The heavy rain created puddles on more than 30 main streets in the city, causing lengthy traffic jams. 

As of the afternoon, water had inundated a number of main streets in the capital, according to the city police’s Traffic Management Center (TMC). 

Muara Baru in North Jakarta suffered the highest water levels with 40 centimeters, Second Brig. David of the TMC said. 

“Puddles could be found in some areas, mostly in North Jakarta, such as on Jl. Baru Ancol,  Jl. RE Martadinata, East Kelapa Gading and Teluk Gong,” David told the Post.