Flood Fun

Flood Fun - Kemang, South Jakarta, Indonesia (January 2020).

The recent flood on new year's day that has affected wide areas of Jakarta and its metropolitan were unprecedented, causing widespread loss including 66 lives. Amidst the calamity, kids being kids, took to fun and frolic.

Flooding has affected Jakarta for centuries, all the way back to when the city was the capital of the Dutch East Indies and went by the name Batavia.

As the population grew exponentially and Jakarta became a vast metropolis, the problem became so severe and complex that mitigating the floods requires three provinces, multiple levels of governments and various agencies to work together. Occasionally, there is a lack of consensus on how to proceed.

There are multiple root causes, including deforestation, poor drainage, narrowing rivers and land subsidence. The authorities are exploring various options such as a giant sea wall, more dams and other technical solutions.

Picture is sized 2835 x 2678 pixels.