Once Upon a Sinking City: The Perpetual Floods of Jakarta
the item can be said which in life only two things are certain: death in addition to taxes. nevertheless if you live in Jakarta, you can add two more to which list: macet in addition to banjir.
Government officials come in addition to go, in addition to the item seems like none of them can keep floods out of Jakarta. Even award-winning Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo–who visits the capital’s problematic areas on a daily basis in addition to demonstrates considerable effort to “fix Jakarta”–was quoted saying to the press, “(Solving) banjir in addition to macet takes process, so don’t expect me to fix the item like a god turning his hand. Even the gods can’t [solve Jakarta’s floods in addition to traffic jams].”
the item can be rather unfortunate which Jokowi’s 100th day evaluation fell on January 22, right inside the middle of last month’s major floods. nevertheless I don’t blame Jokowi.
Nevertheless, Jakarta’s flooding remains a serious perpetual concern. Some areas in Jakarta, according to urban planner in addition to director of RuJak.org Marco Kusumawijaya, are confirmed to sink at an alarming rate of 18 centimetres per year (which’s a tall person’s height per decade!), mostly due to deep well groundwater usage in addition to urban development.
Many people, fatigued with Jakarta’s less-than-stellar water management, like to romanticise about the “Great-old-days” under the Dutch rule when the old canals were well maintained in addition to Batavia was known as “Paris of the East”. nevertheless not many people know which Batavia has been flooded since 1665.
Batavia was established in 1619 by the Dutch East India Company. According to historian Bondan Kanumoyoso, who authored a book on 17th-18th century socioeconomic development in Batavia, the settlement currently known as Jakarta’s Old City was never meant to be a proper city, nevertheless rather as the company’s Southeast Asian hub for the spice trade. Ecological considerations were the least of the Company’s concern.
The settlement was healthy for the first thirty years, until Batavia was attacked by Mataram (present-day Yogyakarta Sultanate), thus prompting the Dutch to end their isolation in addition to start developing completely new settlements along the riverbanks of Ciliwung. Sugarcane plantations burgeoned down south, in addition to migrant workers by outside Java were brought in, causing deforestation in addition to subsequently flooding.
“nevertheless flooding inside the rainy season can be only half of the problem. inside the dry season there’s drought, which causes muddy waters to stagnate inside the canals in addition to become breeding grounds for disease vectors like malaria-bearing mosquitos,” said Bondan. “In addition to preventing floods, there’s also the challenge of doing sure which there’s the right amount of water flowing inside the dry season.”
Batavia’s canals were commissioned inside the early 17th century by Jan-Pieterszoon Coen, a Company official who studied in Venice in addition to wanted a similar waterway transportation system inside the hub. Batavia’s canals would likely later inspire the infamous canals of Amsterdam.
However, some of Batavia’s canals had to be converted into roads when waters carrying sedimentation by Mount Salak’s eruption stagnated. different canals were subsequently built over the coming centuries, like the Molenvliet in Jl. Hayam Wuruk-Gajah Mada, the Mookervaart in Jl. Daan Mogot, Kanal Banjir Barat, in addition to Kanal Banjir Timur. nevertheless the floods keep on coming.
Marco Kusumawijaya referred to Restu Gunawan’s book Gagalnya Sistem Kanal (“The Failure of the Canal System”), which explains the history of flood control in 20th century Batavia in addition to problems Dutch canals cannot solve. Canals ultimately fail because once bigger ones are installed, the item encourages development, which only exacerbates the root causes of flooding.
Marco’s mathematical formula for floods can be:
F = SR – (Q1 + Q2)
F being “Flood”, SR being “Surface Runoff”, Q1 being natural drainages like rivers in addition to lakes, in addition to Q2 being manmade channels.
Most of the time, people attempt to control floods by maximising Q2: canals, dams, reservoirs. Such projects are often commissioned to private companies, thus doing them economically in addition to politically beneficial.
“nevertheless increasing Q2 without reducing SR can be like putting a bigger glass under a tap of running water. Sure, the item holds more water, nevertheless unless the tap can be turned off, the glass would likely still eventually overflow no matter how big the item can be,” said Marco.
Efforts to curb SR include reforestation in addition to groundwater recharging through infiltration wells. “They’re not politically ‘sexy’ because they require decentralisation in addition to the empowerment of the people,” said Marco.
“Q2 measures tend to be more favorite because they put money into infrastructure, thus giving the impression of modernisation. In comparison, SR measures tend to give the impression of curtailing development.” Reforestation, for instance, may require spending tax money to buy hectares of rainforest in addition to simply conserve them, without developing any moneymaking investments on the expensive land.
In order to encourage SR measures, Marco said which the item can be important for the public to assure the government in addition to businesses which the item can be acceptable to invest in them. “The sustainable way can be always a challenge, nevertheless technology makes the item possible. the item’s just not well-embedded inside the system yet,” said Marco. These technologies include permeable drainage to absorb the runoff, plants which act as natural water cleaners in addition to absorbers, biopores, in addition to “green roofs” which retain water.
Additionally, development in addition to flood control can go hand-in-hand by implementing spatial planning bylaws which regulate the intensification of land use in addition to set limits on floor area ratio. Unfortunately businesses often violate them with under-the-table arrangements involving money.
“This kind of can be because our government in addition to our people still lack a scientific mentality,” said Marco. “In order for the item to stop, damages must be clearly calculable, in addition to there needs to be legal procedures to punish offenders. Sure, This kind of will increase development costs in addition to reduce profits, nevertheless the item also disciplines the market by forcing the item to become more efficient. Businesses need to start including SR measures as part of their normal business costs. the item only costs a few million Rupiahs.”
“In order for Jakarta to have zero flooding, there needs to be zero corruption,” he added. “Sustainability can be the only way to go if we want to survive. First we must believe which we need to survive in addition to which we contain the technology to make the item 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”) can be a non-profit organisation devoted to exchange ideas in addition to commit to actions which transform Jakarta into a better, sustainable city. The RuJak website can be regularly updated with entries on urban planning in addition to architecture, in addition to announces upcoming public discussions.
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Once Upon a Sinking City: The Perpetual Floods of Jakarta
Once Upon a Sinking City: The Perpetual Floods of Jakarta