Drought tightens grip across Indonesia
Weeks without rain threatens drinking water availability for thousands of households
More regions across Indonesia are facing worsening water shortages as the El Nino-driven dry season intensifies, with authorities warning that prolonged below-normal rainfall could deepen the crisis in the coming months.
Thousands of households across several regencies have already gone weeks without rain, prompting the National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure, or BNPB, to urge regional administrations to strengthen drought preparedness.
More than 7,100 households are struggling to access clean water in some of the hardest-hit areas, including Cilacap, Klaten and Jepara in Central Java; Bantul in Yogyakarta; Karawang, Tasikmalaya and Sukabumi in West Java; as well as Seram in Maluku, where emergency water deliveries are also underway.
"BNPB urges all regional administrations and the public to strengthen preparedness against drought, clean water shortages, and forest and land fires," BNPB Spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement in early July.
As El Nino — the climate event marked by warmer sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean — intensifies, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency, or BMKG, has warned that this year's dry season could be "extreme", increasing the risk of prolonged drought and crop failures.
By early July, about half of Indonesia's climate zones had officially entered the dry season. Meanwhile, most regions were already recording below-normal rainfall.
The BMKG expects the dry season to peak between July and September, with below-normal rainfall forecast across more than 80 percent of the archipelago.
