One Big Wastewater Dump Called Citarum

”Is this the world’s most polluted river?” asks the headline of a news report published on Feb. 14, 2007. The river referred to was the Citarum.

Five years ago, in 2013, environmental groups Green Cross and Blacksmith Institute named the Citarum River one of the 10 most polluted locations in the world.

Spanning around 300 kilometers, roughly the distance between New York and Boston, the Citarum plays a crucial role. About half a million people are directly affected by the river. Five million more are indirectly affected.

The Citarum River also supplies 80 percent of the drinking water for residents of Jakarta and the surrounding area and water for 2,000 factories. Meanwhile, the river provides water for 400,000 hectares of rice fields, an area 1,173 times the size of New York’s Central Park.

No other river accommodates three major dams. Citarum’s dams also serve as power plants. But, the destruction of the Citarum with massive pollution jeopardizes more than just Citarum’s infrastructure,

As the threat extends to humans and all living beings that rely for their lives on the Citarum and its tributaries. The polluted river, for example, has caused the death of thousands of fish.

Overflow from the Citarum River has also hurt residents living further away from the river, as smelly and dirty water has inundated many a village and residential area.

Residents suffer frequently from floodwater inundating their houses not only for a few minutes, but for hours or even days. This has forced many to abandon their homes and affected the economy, as people lose their source of prosperity.

Shockingly, the flood in Dayeuhkolot, Bandung, occurred not in a lowland area but in an area 600 meters above sea level, four times higher than Jakarta’s National Monument (Monas).

The flood in southern Bandung reportedly orginated in Curug Jompong, which is almost encircled by the Citarum. The government plans to build a water canal of 375 meters, but we do not know if that plan would actually materialize.

The government has gone into action. Following an instruction of President Joko Widodo, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono has reiterated that the ministry is taking charge of restoring the Citarum River.

However, the revitalization of the Citarum River cannot stop at infrastructure development, given the fact that the destruction of the river has been triggered by residents in riverbank and downstream areas dumping garbage into the stream as they see fit.

The Citarum River’s pollution extends beyond the body of water to affect all living beings along the course of the river, with contamination of toxic waste taking its toll on people’s health.

How could Indonesia’s Human Development Index improve while humans living near the Citarum are contaminated? Let’s not forget that the Citarum River is a source of life not only for one or two million people in this country, but for tens of millions.