PONOROGO, KOMPAS – Entering the fourth day after a landslide in Tangkil, Banaran village, Pulung district, Ponorogo, East Java, on Tuesday (4/4), an integrated search and rescue (SAR) team has not managed to find 25 people who were declared missing.
Ponorogo Regent Ipong Muchlissoni, who went to the disaster location, said that the emergency response period will be two weeks until April 15 and the first week will be for the SAR operation.
“If after the first week of the SAR operation the victims are still not found, we will ask the families of the victims whether they would like the search to be continued. If they want it to be continued, the search will be extended for another week. If they are still not found, I think the search will not be continued,” said Ipong.
As of the fourth day after the disaster, which took place on Saturday (1/4), the lives of the people of Tangkil had not yet returned to normal. Not many residents have resumed their activities because they fear that there might be a subsequent landslide in the village, which is located about 40 kilometers from the Ponorogo city center.
“I’m still afraid, mas: Afraid of being a victim,” said Marsini, a crop and cattle farmer.
The school activities of 34 kindergarten students and 178 students of state elementary school SDN 137 Banaran have yet to return to normal. “There were only about 30 students who came in and the teaching will be moved to the mosque for the time being,” said Takim, a guard at SDN 137 Banaran.
Critical condition
The landslide at Tangkil village was caused by many factors, including the contours of the sloped land, which was in critical condition. Before the disaster occurred, the rainfall in the area was considered not too extreme. However, with the condition of the soil, which at the time was saturated with water, it was easy for the landslide to occur.
According to Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) data, the rainfall in Pulung district before the occurrence of the disaster was on average 20 millimeters per day. The intensity of the rain was considered to be in the low to middle range.
“At the end of the rainy season, like now, most of the soil is saturated with water. What’s more, if there had been a few days of dry weather, it would have caused the soil aggregates to detach from one another. When they are hit with the next rain, critical areas will be vulnerable to landslide,” said BMKG weather and extreme climate researcher Siswanto in Jakarta.
According to the BMKG’s head of weather prediction and early warning, Ramlan, heavy rain can still happen in a number of areas in Indonesia throughout the next five days. At the moment, there is an anomaly in the temperature of sea surface in the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean south of West Nusa Tenggara, as well as in a number of other bodies of water around Indonesia. This contributes to the supply of the moist air mass.
Sufficient logistic
Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday said that the government believes that the need for supplies and food of the Ponorogo landslide victims’ soup kitchen can be met. The regional administration can use an emergency rice reserve.
The ministry has checked the supply, soup kitchen and main post provided for the landslide victims. “It is enough. In fact, it’s more than enough,” said Khofifah.
Other than delivering logistical aid, the Social Affairs Ministry also sent a psychosocial support service team (LDP) to Ponorogo. The LDP will help the victims overcome any trauma they may have suffered.
(BRO/DIM/AIK/INA)
