Underground Water Tunnel of Ciliwung River to be completed in April

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

President Joko Widodo accompanied by Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono, Head Manager of the Ciliwung River Waterway Project Farida Maharani, and Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono inspect the Ciliwung River Waterway Development Project to the East Flood Canal in Jatinegara, Jakarta, Tuesday ( 24/1/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — After stopping for six years due to the constraints of the land acquisition process, the Ciliwung River underground water tunnel (Sodetan) construction project to the East Flood Canal (KBT) is targeted to be completed and functional in April 2023. This project is expected to control floods in Jakarta.

To ensure the development went according to plan, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo visited the Ciliwung River underground water tunnel construction project to KBT on Tuesday (24/1/2023). The President was accompanied by the Public Works and Housing (PUPR) Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, acting Governor of Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono and East Jakarta Mayor Muhammad Anwar.

There were three locations visited by the President, namely the Ciliwung River channel entry point on Jl. Otista, the arriving shaft on Jl. Otista III and the outlet at the KBT. The President appreciated the running of the project after stopping for six years because it was hampered by land acquisition. Seeing progress in the field, the President was optimistic that the construction of the underground water tunnel project will be completed in the next three months.

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"This land was cleared 1.5 months ago here so that the drilling could begin again. We hope that later in April, God willing, it's finished," said the President.

On the occasion, the President stressed that the mitigation of floods in Jakarta must be comprehensive from the upstream to the downstream. After the government built the Ciawi Dam and Sukamahi Dam upstream, the government is now completing the Ciliwung River underground water tunnel project to the KBT downstream.

The Ciliwung River underground water tunnel project will reduce water discharge to 33 cubic meters per second during the standby flood status. When the flood status is on its highest alert level, this underground water tunnel project can reduce water discharge to 63 cubic meters per second.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Workers complete construction of the Ciliwung River Waterway Development Project to the East Flood Canal in Jatinegara, Jakarta, Tuesday (24/1/2023). The project to deal with flooding in Jakarta is targeted for completion this April 2023. This route has a length of 1.3 kilometers.

The Ciliwung River underground water tunnel project to the KBT is equipped with two tunnels with a diameter of 3.5 meters each. The 1.3 kilometer tunnel will greatly reduce flooding in Jakarta.

In addition to the underground water tunnel project, according to the President, the mitigation of floods in Jakarta must also be followed by other efforts, ranging from the preparation of water pumps to the normalization of rivers in Jakarta. Normalization of rivers includes 12 rivers such as Mokervart, Pesanggrahan River, Angke River and Cipinang River.

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The manager of the Ciliwung River underground water tunnel project to the KBT, Farida Maharani, explained that the progress of the construction of the underground water tunnel project had reached 77 percent. The total length of the Ciliwung River underground water tunnel project to the KBT reached 1.2 kilometers.

River normalization

According to Heru, the Ciliwung River underground water tunnel project to the KBT could reduce up to 10 percent of Jakarta floods. The construction of this underground water tunnel project has an impact on 59 families, 26 of whom have been relocated to apartments.

Heru emphasized that the mitigation of floods in Jakarta would be carried out thoroughly. According to the plan, the Jakarta Provincial Government will normalize other rivers. "The normalization of the rivers is gradual. The Angke River was carried out a few years ago. Next is the normalization of the Ciliwung River," he said.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.