Antara News·Indonesia·Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at 03:42 AM

Ministry deploys three pumps to irrigate drought-hit Bekasi farmland

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S. Aji, Tegar Nurfitra

The Ministry of Public Works deployed three pumps to irrigate farmland in Bekasi, West Java, amid water shortages affecting farmers in Karangharja Village.

Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo said he instructed water resources officials to take immediate steps to ensure adequate irrigation supplies and verify that field reports accurately reflect conditions on the ground.

"I have stressed the importance of maintaining sufficient water supplies for agricultural land since the beginning of the year," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

The minister also raised concerns about discrepancies between official reports and actual conditions related to water availability in the area.

"I want to ensure that reports submitted by the water resources office reflect the real situation. Reports indicated that conditions were normal, yet I still found drought-affected areas during my field inspections," Hanggodo said.

Against this backdrop, the ministry began channeling water from the Kiwing Pump Station through three distribution routes to irrigate 600 hectares of drought-affected farmland, enabling farmers to resume planting.

Acting Head of the Citarum River Basin Organization (BBWS Citarum) Abdul Ghoni Majdi confirmed that the pumps are operating to maintain irrigation supplies for local farmers during the dry season.

"Measures to address drought must be carried out swiftly and concretely," he said.

Majdi said BBWS Citarum deployed a pump with a capacity of 500 liters per second (lps) to channel water from the Citarum River to agricultural land, supported by two additional pumps from BBWS Cilicis, each with an 80 lps capacity.

He added that the government complemented the irrigation effort with a service and complaint post that allows residents and farmers to report drought conditions, request water supplies, and notify authorities of infrastructure problems across the Citarum River basin.

The official further said BBWS Citarum will continue monitoring conditions on the ground and prepare additional measures to support farming activities.

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