Banyuwangi – The Banyuwangi Regency Government continues to anticipate floods ahead of the rainy season. Banyuwangi Regent Ipuk Fiestiandani instructed technical services to start taking anticipatory steps.
“Department of Public Works for Irrigation, PU Highway Office, LH Department, We also ask BPBD to prepare themselves. Culverts should be cleaned immediately so that the water is not blocked. Flood spots are also starting to be mapped to anticipate them,” said Ipuk when holding a weekly coordination meeting attended by all OPDs, Friday (3/11/2023).
One of Ipuk's concerns is flood-prone areas. Like in the Lebak Neighborhood, Tukangkayu Village, Banyuwangi which Ipuk checked directly on Wednesday (1/11/2023).
The area crossed by the Kalilo river, often hit by puddles of water when the intensity of rain is high. This requires a pump to suck up the stagnant water to channel it into the river which is surrounded by the embankment.
“The pump house was built to anticipate flooding. hope, when it rains heavily, Residents here are not flooded," he said.
Technically, The pump function is used to suck up standing water. Next, The water will be sucked up and flowed back into the Kalilo River. “If there is a pump, When the water overflows it can be sucked up and thrown into the river,"Ipuk insisted.
Ipuk added, related to flood management in urban areas, the Water Works Department has carried out normalization of the Lo River downstream in the Bali Strait.
“Normalization has reached downstream. We have dredged the river to its depth 1-2 meter. Hopefully this can prevent the city area from flooding,” kata Iouk.
Besides that, Ipuk also greeted the residents of Lebak, asked local residents to help protect the environment. "Do not litter. So that later the gutters and rivers don't become clogged, causing flooding," he asked.
Head of the Banyuwangi Regency Water Works Department, Guntur Priambodo, said the two water pumps provided had capacity 50 liters per second. The pipe diameter reaches 8 dim.
“With these two pumps, If Lebak Village is flooded in less than three hours the water will start to rise, the pump is immediately turned on,he explained.
When the river water rises, added Guntur, the valve door will be closed. So that, water from the Kalilo river does not reach the village area. “The pump is turned on, so that the water in Lebak Village can be immediately discharged into the river," he said.
The Water Works Department acts as the pump operator, Next, it will be handed over to the community as an anticipatory measure. "So that when the water comes, the community can immediately operate it. We will definitely control it,"explained Guntur.
Apart from preparing the water pump, River normalization and river embankment repairs were also carried out. “Especially along Kalilo, we raise and repair existing embankments. We also dredge river sediments,” concluded Guntur. (*)
