Sikka supplies water to drought-ravaged 70 villages facing water crisis

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - The disaster mitigation office (BPBD) of Sikka District in Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province, has supplied clean water to 70 villages reeling from a water crisis triggered by a drought.

"As many as 70 villages, with around 11 thousand families in Sikka, have been affected by drought that has triggered a clean water crisis," Head of Sikka BPBD Muhammad Daeng Bakir noted in a statement here on Monday.

Bakir remarked that the office's rapid response team had collected data on local residents facing a clean water shortage in villages impacted by drought. The local authorities have also prepared facilities and infrastructure for clean water supply to those villages.

The Sikka district government has declared a drought emergency alert status since September 25, 2021, and taken precautionary measures against the impact of the drought for the subsequent three months.

"Our team has prepared measures to handle the impacts of the drought, especially the supply of clean water to the affected communities until the rainy season starts," he stated.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic country, is prone to hydro-meteorological disasters, such as flooding, landslides, and whirlwinds, in the rainy season and wildfires and severe drought during the dry season.

These unique weather and climate dynamics can be attributed to Indonesia's territorial location around the equator as well as it being flanked by two oceans - the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean, and two big continents - Asia and Australia.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, is spread across over 16 thousand large and small islands.

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