At least 30 districts/cities in Central Java have declared emergency response status to prepare for potential drought and forest/land fires, chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Suharyanto, informed here on Tuesday.
He conveyed the information in Semarang during the Coordination Meeting for Handling Drought in Central Java.
Suharyanto noted that some areas in Central Java, including Wonogiri, Klaten, and Cilacap districts, are prone to drought.
Local governments, together with all regional disaster mitigation agencies (BPBDs) in the province, have prepared anticipatory efforts, such as distributing clean water to Wonogiri and Klaten, he said.
“BNPB will also help distribute water to the community,” he added.
As per a report from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), just 50 millimeters (mm) of rainfall may be recorded in Central Java in the third week of July 2024.
“However, the BMKG prediction of drought this year is not as severe as in 2023 because there is no El Nino in 2024,” Suharyanto added.
However, the BNPB chief reminded the public to remain vigilant because the province still has the potential to experience drought.
“We need to be vigilant, even though there were not many disasters from the beginning until the middle of the year,” he said.
In addition, the BNPB appealed to all district/city BPBDs to monitor conditions in mountains as well as landfills because the two have high risks of forest and land fires.
He expressed the hope that through the supervision, the fire disasters seen in mountains and landfills last year will not recur this year.
So far, the Central Java provincial government has anticipated the potential drought by issuing a circular letter, holding coordination meetings, and collecting data on the readiness of facilities and infrastructure in the district/city areas.