PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - The Mayor of Bandung, Muhammad Farhan, revealed the main cause of the flooding that hit a number of points in Bandung City in the last few days.

Apart from being triggered by extreme weather, he revealed that piles of rubbish in drains and rivers were the dominant factor worsening the condition.

According to him, the volume of waste clogging the waterway is enormous. In fact, in one day, officers managed to remove almost 300 cubic meters of waste from the river.

"Yesterday's flooding was caused not only by extreme weather but also by the drainage channels being clogged with a huge amount of trash," said Farhan at the Bandung City Hall on Monday (April 13, 2026).

He confirmed that flood control infrastructure, such as retention ponds, was functioning properly. However, overflows still occurred because the river flow was obstructed by accumulated trash.

"The retention ponds are functioning, but it's the rivers that are overflowing. Because they're often clogged with trash," he said.

Seeing this situation, the Bandung City Government is now focusing on rapid response by removing waste from the river. Farhan stated that after the waste was removed, the water receded relatively quickly, indicating that the existing system's capacity is still adequate if the flow is not disrupted.

As a follow-up, Farhan plans to strengthen the role of sanitation workers. He believes that river management cannot rely solely on one agency but requires the involvement of more personnel with adequate incentives.

"We will empower the governors to increase their duties and, of course, we will try to increase incentives. We are currently calculating this in the regional budget," he explained.

He also stated that building new retention ponds is not a top priority at this time. He believes that without proper river management, additional infrastructure will be ineffective.

"It's pointless to build as many retention ponds as possible if the river isn't managed. The water will still overflow due to silting and waste," he said.

Therefore, the Bandung City Government plans to carry out comprehensive river revitalization as a long-term solution.

Farhan hopes that this effort can reduce the risk of flooding and increase public awareness not to throw garbage carelessly, especially into rivers.

"Hopefully, all the efforts we've made can reduce the risk of flooding and raise public awareness about littering, especially in rivers," he said. (Bandung City Communications and Information Office/rka)