This condition is noticeable in the North Bandung Zone (KBU) of West Java, which has tens of thousands of hectares of hilly areas that are almost bare of trees. Plots are being prepared for vegetable farms on the land, which has a gradient of more than 40 degrees and is found in Mekarsaluyu, Ciburial and Cimenyan villages in Cimenyan district, Bandung regency.
Another section of the KBU has been exploited for the last 30 years to develop residential areas, apartments, hotels and cafes. Until yesterday, heavy equipment was in operation to build three-story hillside houses.
Records at the National Agency for Disaster Control (BNPB) show that widespread conversion of forests to functions such as agriculture and development has led to the reduced status of around 40,000 hectares of the KBU to critical and very critical.
In this context, BNPB chief Doni Monardo warned about the major threat of disaster in the KBU. An aerial view during the recent dry season spotted cracked earth, which was now poised to turn into a landslide in heavy rain.
“The zone is highly vulnerable to landslides. In Indonesia there are many regions that have the same risk,” Doni said on Wednesday (11 December 2019) in Ambon, Maluku.
In the Kendeng mountain range of Pati, Central Java, vast stretches of karst hills have also been stripped bare.
A landslide struck Hegarmanah hamlet last Friday in Cilangari village, Gununghalu, West Bandung, burying paddy fields and village roads with mud.
In the Kendeng mountain range of Pati, Central Java, vast stretches of karst hills have also been stripped bare. At the end of November, rows of corn covered the northern peaks of Kendeng in Sumbersoko and Tompegunung villages, Sukolilo. The corn plants were about three weeks old and 10-20 centimeters tall.
At another spot, the soil was barren and dry. Pale brown karst stones were scattered across almost the entire surface of the land. Prior to 1998, teak trees had covered the area.
The soil in Kendeng has a different characteristic from the soil in the KBU, but both areas have the same disaster risk because of they have been stripped bare. In Pati, flash floods are a hazard in the villages of Wegil, Sukolilo (Sukolilo district), Sumbersari, Pasuruhan, Trimulyo, Talun, Jimbaran (Kayen), Tambakromo, Angkatan Lor, Angkatan Kidul and Sinomwidodo (Tambakromo).
In February 2019, five flash floods struck the region, with floodwaters reaching up to 1 meter in Kayen. “Floods have become a regular occurrence,” said Mirza Nur Hidayat, the rehabilitation and construction head at the Pati Regional Disaster Control Agency.
The North Kendeng mountain range, which covers 12,901 hectares, is under management of the State Forestry Company’s Pati Forest Administration Unit.
Flash floods affect the people who live in the Kendeng foothills and downstream areas. Last month’s flooding caused congestion around Sukolilo Market. “Paddy fields were also submerged so that harvests failed,” said Subiyono, 62, a Sukolilo resident.
The North Kendeng mountain range, which covers 12,901 hectares, is under management of the State Forestry Company’s Pati Forest Administration Unit. Extensive forest damage occurred in 2012 and 2018, particularly in Sukolilo, Kayen and Tambakromo.
“It was heavily damaged,” said Mirza.
Extreme weather
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned about the likelihood of extreme weather in Sumatra, West Java, Central Java and East Java.
“Generally, early December is the beginning of the rainy season in the majority of Indonesian regions,” said Miming Saepudin, head of weather prediction and early warning at the BMKG.
This means that people should be on the alert for heavy rain with lightning storms and strong winds.
Strong winds and tornadoes have claimed lives in Kediri, East Java, and Boyolali, Central Java. A number of public facilities were also destroyed, including several toll road sections.
The 2019-2020 rainy season varies across Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek). In the northern, central, western and eastern parts of Jakarta, the wet season generally starts in the first 10 days of December, whereas the wet season started in November in the south.
Outside Jabodetabek, heavy rain has been forecast for the next two days in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Riau, Lampung, Banten, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, part of Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, North Sulawesi and parts of Papua.
“The potential for downpours and extreme weather in December remains significant,” said Miming.
Over the weekend, more than a dozen villages were flooded in Aceh Singkil, with floodwaters receding yesterday.
Several villages in South Dolo of Sigi regency, Central Sulawesi, were also affected by mudflows. In Poi village, South Dolo, 1,650 people were evacuated to avoid the risk of mudflows Mount Tinombu.
Floods and landslides also ravaged a number of villages in the Harau and Lareh Sago districts of Limapuluh Kota regency, West Sumatra. (TAM/RTG/DIT/JOL/FRN/ICH)