Once Upon a Sinking City: The Perpetual Floods of Jakarta

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Once Upon a Sinking City: The Perpetual Floods of Jakarta - Jakarta - Flood

It is said that in life only two things certain: death and taxes. But if you live in Jakarta, you can add two more to the list: Macet and banjir

come and go government officials, and it seems like none of them can floods keep from Jakarta .. Also winning Governor Joko " Jokowi "Widodo-who visited the capital problematic areas on a daily basis and shows considerable efforts to" fix Jakarta "-was the press quoted as saying:" (dissolving) banjir and Macet taking process, so do not expect I fix it like a god turn his hand. Even the gods can not [solve Jakarta’s floods and traffic jams]. "

it is very unfortunate that Jokowi 100th day evaluation fell on 22 January, in the middle of major flooding the last month. But I do not blame Jokowi.

Nevertheless Jakarta flooding remains a serious concern eternal. Some areas in Jakarta, city planner and head of RuJak.org Marco Kusumawijaya, confirmed at an alarming rate of 18 centimeters per year decline (which is a great person height per decade!) Mainly due to deep well groundwater use and urban development.

Many people with Jakarta fatigued less than stellar water management as to romanticize about the "good old days" under the Dutch rule, if the old channels and were maintained and Batavia was known as "Paris of the East". But not many people know that Batavia was flooded 1665

Batavia was founded in 1619 by the Dutch East India Company. According to historian Bondan Kanumoyoso, a book written on the 17th to 18th centuries, the socio-economic development in Batavia, today the settlement as Jakarta known Old City never had to be a real city, but as the company's Southeast Asian hub for spice trade meant. Ecological considerations were the least of the concerns of society.

The settlement was healthy for the first 30 years to Batavia to Mataram (today Yogyakarta Sultanate) was attacked, so that the Dutch encouraged their isolation and start end the development of new settlements along the river banks of Ciliwung. Sugarcane plantations proliferated south and migrant workers from outside Java were brought, caused deforestation and then flooding.

"But floods in the rainy season is only half the problem. In the dry season there is drought, which caused to stagnate in the channels muddy water and breeding grounds for pathogens such as malaria-bearing mosquitoes," Bondan said. "In addition, to prevent the floods, there is also the challenge to ensure that it flows the right amount of water in the dry season."

Batavia canals were added in the early 17th century by Jan Pieterszoon Coen in order, wanted a company official who studied in Venice and a similar waterway transport system in the hub. Batavia canals would inspire the infamous canals of Amsterdam later.

However, had some of the Batavia canals are converted into streets when carrying water sedimentation of Mount Salak eruption stagnated. Other canals were built in the episode in the centuries to come, as the Molenvliet in Jl. Hayam Wuruk-Gajah Mada, the Mookervaart in Jl. Daan Mogot, channel Banjir Barat and Timur channel Banjir. But the floods come again.

Marco Kusumawijaya referred Restu Gunawan book Gagalnya Sistem channel ( "Failure of the Canal system"), which tells the story of flood control in the 20th century in Batavia and problems Dutch channels can not solve. Canals ultimately fail, because even larger installed, it promotes the development, only aggravates the causes of floods

Marco mathematical formula for the flooding is .:

F = SR - (Q1 + Q2)

F "Flood", SR be "runoff" Q1 natural drainages such as rivers and lakes, and Q2 are artificial channels to be to be.

most of the time, try to control the people flooding through Q2 maximization: canals, dams, reservoirs. Such projects are often given to private companies in order to enable them to make economically and politically advantageous.

"But is Q2 increases, reduced without SR as of running water a larger glass put under a tap. Sure, it holds more water, but unless the faucet is turned off, would the glass yet overcrowded finally, no matter how big it is, "Marco said.

Jakarta The Sinking City Jakarta has a large amount of natural rainfall and SR of excess water from West Java highlands alone. And then there are the additional outflow of population growth, developments that take surfaces produced by human settlements and industries-some for groundwater absorption and waste, pull the deep groundwater but it can not put in the ground.

Efforts SR belong to curb reforestation and groundwater recharge through injection wells. "They are not politically" sexy "because they require the decentralization and the empowerment of people," Marco said.

"Q2 measures are becoming increasingly popular as a rule, because they put money into the infrastructure, thus giving the impression of modernization. In comparison, SR measures tend the impression curtails development." Afforestation, for example, can spending tax money demand to buy and easy to save, without to develop on the expensive land no moneymaking investments hectares of rainforest.

to SR to promote measures Marco said that the government and enterprises to assure the public that it is acceptable to invest in them is important. "The sustainable way is always a challenge, but the technology makes it possible. It's just not well embedded in the system," Marco said. These technologies include permeable drainage to absorb the effluent plants that act as a natural water purifier and to keep absorber biopores and "green roofs" the water.

can also go development and flood protection go hand in hand with planning statutes implementing that regulate the intensification of land use and limits on floor area ratio. Unfortunately, many businesses to give them hurt with under-the-table cash transactions.

"This is because our government and our people still lack a scientific mentality," Marco said. To be "To stop him, damages must be calculable, and it needs legal procedures to punish its perpetrators. Certainly, this will increase development costs and reduce profits, but it also disciplined the market by forced efficiently . companies need to start including SR measures under its normal cost of doing business. it is only a few million rupiah costs. "

" in order to have zero floods of Jakarta, there must be zero corruption, "he added , "Sustainability is the only way to go if we want to survive. We must first believe that we need to survive, and that in order to make the technology possible."

rujak Center for Urban Studies
Gedung Ranuza 2nd Floor
Jl Timor No. 10
Menteng, Jakarta Pusat 10350
http://www.rujak.org

rujak ( "Ruang Jakarta ") is a nonprofit organization dedicated to exchange ideas and commit to actions that turn Jakarta into a better, sustainable city. The rujak site is regularly updated with entries on urban planning and architecture, and announces upcoming public discussion.

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