Malang, (malangkota.go.id) – In order to mitigate the risk of flooding, the Malang City Government through the Public Works, Spatial Planning, Housing and Settlement Areas Agency (DPUPRPKP) normalized water channels in Purwantoro Village, Thursday (7/7/2022). In this activity, the Deputy Mayor of Malang, Ir. H. Sofyan Edi Jarwoko directly participated in the river dredging process in the area.
The man who is familiarly called Bung Edi explained that the water channel dredging activity was part of the short-term steps taken by the Malang City Government to prevent the risk of flooding in areas that are often hit by flooding during the rainy season.
"In a certain period of time we must have a comprehensive concept, which is not only cleaning the channels but also building reservoirs such as bozem. At the time we have a well-integrated drainage network for the long-term steps," he said.
Bung Edi added that flood prevention efforts require understanding from all parties in Malang City, and must be carried out step by step in order to realize a flood-free Malang City.
"Taking care of Malang City needs to be done by all people in Malang City. Therefore, the clean-up movement needs to be done and grown in the smallest environment in each region. If actions such as throwing garbage in rivers or water channels are still carried out by the community, of course the process of solving the flood problem in Malang City will be longer and the solution is uncertain," he added.
Meanwhile, Acting Head of DPUPRPKP Malang City, Ir. Diah Ayu Kusumadewi, MT said that the normalization of water channels is a routine activity carried out by the government in order to mitigate the risk of flooding and puddles that often occur during the rainy season.
Diah said that the dredging in Purwantoro Village was the fourth water channel normalization activity that the Malang City Government had carried out so far. In the future, she said there were still many locations that would be normalized. "We hope to be able to carry out a dredging process like this every two weeks. However, we are currently constrained by the availability of heavy equipment that can be used. So currently we can only do it approximately once a month," said Diah.
Diah added that of course the river dredging activities, both those carried out manually around the settlements and those carried out with heavy equipment, are expected to minimize the risk of flooding that has occurred so far. The Maknag City Government is also making other efforts to prevent flooding and inundation in the future in addition to routinely dredging the river, namely by creating diversions, building artificial lakes (bozem), and also building a master plan for water channels in Malang City. (ayu/ram)
