The people could now feel the impact of drought,Karawang, W java (ANTARA) - Thousands of residents in 14 villages in West Java's Karawang district are running short of clean water due to this year's drought, the district's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) confirmed Friday. "The people can now feel the impact of drought," BPBD Chief Asep Wahyu said.
The drought affected 14 villages in the three sub-districts of Ciampel, Pangkalan and Tegalwaru in early July, data from the BPBD shows. A total of 22,755 residents are reeling from the shortage of clean water due to the drought, according to the BPBD.
The BPBD has dispatched clean water to the affected villages, Wahyu said.
To address this scarcity, the regional government-owned drinking water company Tirta Tarum has filled water tankers to distribute clean water to the villages. Similarly, the local environment and sanitation office will build water reservoirs to anticipate drought in Tegalwaru sub-district.
This year's drought also affected 3,150 families in 12 villages in Central Java's Banyumas District.
In dealing with the clean water shortage, the district's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has prepared one thousand water tankers and regularly distributed clean water to meet the requirement of some 10,876 people, Acting Head of Banyumas' BPBD Ariono Poerwanto stated.
This year's drought will likely peak in August and September, for which those living in the affected areas should maintain vigil to deal with its impact, according to the forecast issued by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency.
Translator: M.Ali Khumaini/Suharto
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
