Sragen/Boyolali, Ekuatorial – Dried up springs due to long dry season had forced most of Sragen villagers to consume dirty water, said a villager on Friday (19/9).
Danuri of Dukuh village, Tangen sub-district, Sragen district, Central Java, said that they have been using water from ponds which was not clean. “Our wells were all dried up. In the meantime, there is still no water supply [from the government]. So, we had to use the water from ponds. We had no choice as our cattle also need the water,” said Danuri adding the villagers have to queue to get the water and wait for one day before using it.
He was hoping that there will be water dropping from the government to ease off their water trouble as the drilled wells project from the government has yet to function. “We [villagers] have already paid so that the-12-million-rupiah well can operate,” said Danuri.
Meanwhile, Wangsit Sukono, head of Sragen Social Service Agency, said that at least 36 villagers out of eleven districts in Sragen were starting to experience drought and lots of them have requested for water dropping.
Furthermore, Sukono said that Tangen, Jenar, Tanon, Mondokan, and Sumberlawang sub districts were the hardest areas to get hit by the drought. As initial step, he added that his agency will start to do water dropping and collaborating with Sragen Water Company to set up water containers to keep the droppings.
Water Scarcity in Boyolali
The condition is not so different in six districts in Boyolali of Central Java, — Musuk, Kemusu, Wonosegoro, Juwangi, Karanggede, and Andong, — which have entered emergency category of water crisis.
Head of Boyolali Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency, Purwanto, said that drought had not only affected agriculture but also threatening people’s lives, especially on clean water availability. “Unfortunately, we are limited in funding [to deal with the water issue]. The Boyolali government had been collecting data from those areas in order to get more funding from central government,” said Purwanto adding that the government only have Rp105 million (US$ 8,766).
He said that there were lots of requirements to fulfill to get additional funding for the disaster. Bramantyo[:]