Communal based flood mitigation measures in Bandung city - working paper no. 10

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the Biophore Programme, a flood mitigation effort to reduce disaster risk that was carried out in Bandung-the capital of West Java province, Indonesia-by the local government in 2013. The objective of the program was to reduce urban flood by seeking to see water infiltrate, thereby causing run-off to diminish and thus reducing floods.

This paper states that due to the limited open space available because of the Biophore Programme, the approach should be coupled with rainwater harvesting at household level in order to achieve effective results. It argues that a small investment at the household scale could prevent an avoidable disaster such as urban floods. The proposed method is now under development in Bandung city to mitigate urban flood and this paper describes the application of the technology in Bandung city as well as its application in the household scale.

Bandung is described as a home to 3.1 million people with a density of 16,500/km2, which puts a considerable strain on the natural resources. The most prominent stress is the conversion of the catchment area of Citarum River into commercial and residential areas. The catchment area, which is located in northern part of Bandung, has lost most of the forest and agriculture areas, leaving only 25% of its 30.000 hectares. The regular rain leads into flooding in city and subsequently the downstream area, which is in the southern part of Bandung. The result is disastrous with transportation paralyzed, housing becoming inundated on regular basis and industrial activities which are located most in southern part being inhibited. The overwhelming flood occurs because 95% of the rainwater cannot be absorbed in the catchment area. This also results in the dry up of water springs. Consequently, in the year 2000, Bandung faced a fresh-water deficit and cannot barely supply the water demand of its 3 million residents. Immediate action by Bandung Local Government is by providing Biophore Programs.