Once pristine, Cisadane river now a muddy swamp

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Once a popular destination for fishing and recreation, the Cisadane River is a shadow of its former self these days.

Many parts of the river -- which has not been dredged for 30 years and looks more like a muddy swamp -- are heavily polluted with domestic and industrial waste.

"It is not hard to imagine what could happen during the rainy season," State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said Thursday.

He said the fact the river had been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent meant floods were more likely to occur in areas it ran through. He said the river was so polluted that revitalization efforts would take up to 20 years.

The minister planted trees near the banks of the river during a visit to the area Thursday. He was accompanied by his wife Erna Wetoelar, who is a former regional infrastructure minister, and Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiah.

Stretching some 115 kilometers in total, the Cisadane River flows from Pasar Buncit village in Bogor to Tanjung Burung in Teluk Naga district.

Sedimentation in the river has resulted in its water levels being lower than average in recent years, especially during the rainy season.

Floods that inundated parts of Tangerang earlier this year were caused to a large extent by the river's inability to handle a surplus of water.

Banten's Water Resources Management Center recorded that a 1.5-kilometer stretch of the river between the old Cisadane bridge on Jl. Merdeka in Tangerang and the Pasar Baru dam is almost entirely clogged with mud.

The area was last dredged in 1976 with assistance from the World Bank.

After the river was dredged, its width measured 80 meters on average, with a depth of seven meters. Today the river is only two meters deep in parts.

"In normal conditions, river sediment reaches 400 particles per minute (PPM) on average. But during floods, sediment levels increase to 1,450 PPM," the center's coordinator Djoko Kirmanto, who is also the Public Works Minister, said.

Djoko said ideally the river should be dredged every five years to control sedimentation levels.

Sedimentation has also caused the quality of water in the river to deteriorate significantly.

Despite the fact the river is polluted with industrial and domestic waste, people still use it as a water source to meet their daily needs.

Water suppliers PDAM Tirta Kerta Raharja and PDAM Tirta Benteng, owned by the Tangerang regency and Tangerang municipality respectively, depend on the Cisdane River for their water supplies.

After her visit to the area Thursday, Chosiah said her administration would revitalize the Cisadane and Cimanceuri rivers, both of which flow through Tangerang.

"We are yet to allocate any funds from the provincial budget for revitalization efforts because we are still waiting to receive our budget allocation from the central government, as promised last year," she said