REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Heavy rainfall triggered floods that affected a total of 37 urban villages and 100 sub-urban villages (RWs) in Jakarta on Thursday. The flooding and puddles affected 11 RWs in East Jakarta, nine RWs in Central Jakarta, 56 RWs in the South Jakarta area, and 24 RWs in North Jakarta.

Head of the Information and Public Relations Data Center of the National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated that the rain caused flooding and puddles that had begun to recede.

"Floods and puddles are caused by an inadequate urban drainage system that is unable to drain the flow of surface water streams," Nugroho noted in a press release here on Thursday.

Jakarta is increasingly vulnerable to flooding due to its limited water catchment areas. Massive construction work coupled with the land surface lacking adequate absorption capacity and limited water catchment areas have aggravated the problem.

"Some 85 percent of the rainfall in the Jakarta area is converted into surface water streams while only some 15 percent permeates the ground and seeps into the soil," Nurgroho pointed out.

As a result, every time the city experiences heavy rainfall, it suffers from floods and puddles. In future, the government needs to build absorption wells, mini lakes, biopore, and river tributaries as well as conduct soil reclamation. 

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