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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Environment & Climate

Indonesia fast-tracks irrigation repair to secure water for 15,000 hectares of farmland

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Indonesian authorities are overseeing the rehabilitation of the Pante Lhong irrigation system to ensure water supply for 15,000 hectares of farmland.
  • The focus is on completing both the Pante Lhong Dam and its distribution network to prevent disruption to the planting season.
  • Rehabilitation efforts include fixing dam leaks and repairing a 1.9-kilometer primary irrigation channel damaged by subsidence.

Indonesian authorities are prioritizing the restoration of the Pante Lhong irrigation system, aiming to secure water supply for approximately 15,000 hectares of agricultural land. The Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Task Force (Satgas PRR) is closely monitoring the progress, ensuring that the dam and its extensive distribution network are fully functional before the next planting season.

Following an initial visit, the task force returned to the site and received confirmation that the Pante Lhong Dam is operational, although some finishing touches are still underway. The Aceh River Basin Authority (BWS Aceh) is currently completing work on the cofferdam, emergency spillway, mud gate installation, irrigation gate gearbox replacement, and sediment cleaning at the dam.

The emergency handling phase has succeeded in restoring the function of the dam. Now our focus is ensuring water can truly flow to the agricultural land. Therefore, the completion of the dam and irrigation network must proceed in parallel so as not to disrupt the community's planting season

— ImranReporting to the Head of the PRR Task Force, Tito Karnavian, on the importance of parallel completion of dam and irrigation network repairs.

The immediate challenge has shifted from the dam's basic functionality to ensuring water effectively reaches the farmlands. This involves accelerating repairs to leaks in the dam and, crucially, rehabilitating the Aramco Primary Channel. This 1.9-kilometer channel, in operation since 1986, has sustained damage at three points due to subsidence, hindering optimal water distribution even with the dam's restoration.

Both the dam rehabilitation and the primary channel repair are being pursued in parallel. BWS Aceh targets completing the dam leak repairs within about 10 days, while the Aramco Primary Channel rehabilitation is expected to take two to four weeks. The task force is also monitoring the construction of the Pante Lhong Bridge, which is slated for completion by the end of 2026.

The Aceh River Basin Authority is targeting the completion of dam leak repairs within about 10 days, while the rehabilitation of the Aramco Primary Channel is estimated to be completed within two to four weeks

— ImranProviding a timeline for the dam leak repairs and the primary channel rehabilitation.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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