Kementerian PU handles 294 drought points across Indonesia

Kementerian Pekerjaan Umum by the end of July 2026 handled 294 drought points across Indonesia caused by El Nino, consisting of 180 points in irrigation areas and 114 points in settlements. Of that total, 202 points, or 68.7 percent, have been completed, while 92 points are still in process. Minister of Public Works Dody Hanggodo said the main priority is irrigation areas so farm productivity does not decline during the dry season. Emergency steps include pumping water from rivers to rice fields, normalizing irrigation channels, raising temporary embankments with sandbags, installing pipes, and building tertiary irrigation channels. In settlements, the response is being carried out through clean water distribution by tanker trucks. Kementerian PU has also optimized 10.789 bore wells, 240 dams, and deployed 125 mobile pumps, 921 alkon pumps, and 49 drilling machines.