Indonesia: Drought paralyses 17 villages in Cilacap, Central Java

Antara 1 Jul 19;

Cilacap, Central Java (ANTARA) - As of June 30, a total of 17 villages in seven sub-districts in Cilacap, Central Java, were reeling under the impact of drought during this year's dry season.

Patimuan Sub-district bore the maximum brunt of the drought, with seven villages affected, Tri Komara Sidhy, head of the Cilacap disaster mitigation office, stated here on Monday.

In Kawunganten Sub-district, three villages were hit by the extreme dry season, while two villages respectively in the sub-districts of Gandrungmangu and Karangpucung, and one village each in Kampung Laut, Keruklegi, and Bantarsari were affected.

"Drought affected a total of 21,660 residents, grouped in 7,123 families, in the 17 villages," he stated.

The local authorities have distributed 36 tankers of clean water to those villages.

The Cilacap district administration has allocated 110 tankers of clean water this year, which is far from adequate, as 65 villages in 15 sub-districts in Cilacap are prone to drought, Sidhy noted.

Last year, 512 tankers of clean water were distributed to drought-hit villages owing to assistance from private companies and humanitarian organizations, he stated.

In the meantime, in Bantul District, Yogyakarta Special Autonomous Region, a total of 15 villages in six sub-districts were affected by drought this year.

Some 50 thousand villagers were affected by the extreme dry season, Head of the Bantul Disaster Mitigation Office Dwi Daryanto noted in Bantul on Monday.

Pandak, Pleret, and Piyungan were among the drought-hit sub-districts.

Clean water has been distributed to local villagers to cope with the water crisis.

Reporter: Sumarwoto, Fardah
Editor: Bambang Purwanto