Ganug Nugroho Adi and Arya Dipa, thejakartapost.com 26 Jul 15;
Long dry season has affected 101 hectare rice fields in West Java and 30 villages in Wonogiri, Central Java.
Some 29,233 residents of 30 villages of Giritontro, Pracimantoro, Paranggupito, Manyaran, Eromoko, Nguntoronadi and Giriwoyo districts of southern Wonogiri have been struggling with water scarcity for the last two months, as the water levels of lakes, reservoirs and irrigation systems have subsided because of a lack of rainfall.
Wonogiri regent Danar Rahmanto said on Sunday that the regency actually manages seven reservoirs, but some of them have dried out.
"We will prioritize clean water distribution to areas hard hit by drought, [namely] Paranggupito, Pracimantoro, Eromoko, Manyaran, dan Giritontro," Danar said.
Separately, Wonogiri Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency executive Bambang Haryanto said that his agency had distributed 70 water tanks, with the capacity of 6,000 liters, to five districts gradually since early June.
Giritontro district head Joko Waluyo said that one family of five people needed about 50 liters of water per day. "Residents could only get some 20 liters during a water distribution schedule, which is not every day," he said. "Residents are thus forced to spend between Rp 70,000 [US$5.20] to Rp 150,000 for daily clean water."
Residents who could not afford the water were forced to dig deeper into dried reservoirs. "We need about half an hour of digging just to get 10 liters," said Daryati, 57, resident of Pucanganom of Giritontro district.
In West Java, 101,000 hectares of rice fields in 20 regencies and cities of Indramayu, Bogor, Subang, Cianjur and Bekasi were under threat of crop failure if no rainfall in the near future.
West Java Agriculture Agency head Diden Trisnadi said on Sunday that crop failure had occured in at least 121 hectares of rice fields in Subang and Cianjur.
"Irrigation could [usually] only save some 25 percent of dried rice paddies," said Diden.(+++)
