Map of rivers and canals in Jakarta 2012

The Jakarta Flood Canal ( id, Kanal Banjir Jakarta) refers to two canals that divert floods from rivers around

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

instead of going through the city. This first

flood control channel Flood control channels are large and empty basins which let water flow in and out (except during flooding) or dry channels that run below the street levels of some larger cities, so that if and when a flood occurs, the water will run into these ch ...

was designed by Hendrik van Breen, an engineer working for the Dutch East Indian ''Department van Burgelijke Openbare Werken'' (BOW—lit. Department of Public Civil Works, currently the Ministry of Public Works and People's Housing), after a big flood hit the city on 13 February 1918.

West and East Flood Canal

With help of ''Netherlands Engineering Consultants'', the "''Master Plan for Drainage and Flood Control of Jakarta''" was published in December 1973. According to this plan, flood control of Jakarta would revolve around two canals encircling the city. The canals divert the water flowing from the south around the city and into the sea. These canals are known as West Flood Canal (

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

: ''Banjir Kanal Barat'') and East Flood Canal (Indonesian: ''Banjir Kanal Timur''). Other measures to control floods in Jakarta include

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

s and pumps in areas below sea level. This system built in 1983.

West Flood Canal

The West Flood Canal marked the southern boundary of the Menteng residential area. The flood canal was included in the 1918 Batavia city plan and constructed in 1919. It runs from the

floodgate Floodgates, also called stop gates, are adjustable gates used to control water flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates in sluices and c ...

Manggarai The Manggarai are an ethnic group found in western Flores in the East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. Manggarai people are spread across three regencies in the province, namely the West Manggarai Regency, Manggarai Regency and East Manggarai Re ...

, via Pasar Rumput, Dukuh Atas, Karet Kubur,

Tanah Abang Tanah Abang is a district of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The district hosts the biggest textile market in Southeast Asia, Tanah Abang Market. It hosts Bung Karno Stadium, in Kelurahan Gelora, and the western half of the largely skyscraper-domin ...

Tomang Tomang is an administrative village in the Grogol Petamburan district of Indonesia. It has postal code of 11440. See also * Grogol Petamburan * List of administrative villages of Jakarta {{unreferenced, date=March 2017 This is a list of a ...

Grogol Grogol is an urban administrative village in the Grogol Petamburan subdistrict of West Jakarta, Indonesia. The triangle-shaped administrative village is bounded by the West Flood Canal to the east, Jakarta Inner Ring Road to the west, and Jal ...

, and

Pademangan Pademangan is a port-associated subdistrict of North Jakarta, Indonesia. It stretches from the Sunda Kelapa Harbor on the east to the western area of Tanjung Priok Harbor to the east. Geographically, it is a plain with an average height of 75 ce ...

to the sea at

Muara Angke Muara Angke is a fishing port located at Kapuk Muara, Penjaringan, along the north coast of Jakarta, Indonesia. The port is integrated with fishermen's housing and a fishing port management office owned by the Jakarta government. It has modern f ...

. Another floodgate is located in Karet. A still existing bronze plaque on the Manggarai floodgate honours Van Breen and commemorates the canal's first use in diverting the flood of 1919. In the 1973 master plan, a system of canals was planned to cut to the flow of water in

West Jakarta West Jakarta ( bew, Jakarte Bekulon; id, Jakarta Barat) is one of the five Cities of Indonesia, administrative cities of the Jakarta, Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. West Jakarta is not Self-governance, self-governed and does not hav ...

. This was a continuation of Van Breen's canal and would later be known as the West Flood Canal. The construction was delayed by problems in clearing the heavily populated area. After a flood in January 1979, the central government and the provincial government of Jakarta revised the West Flood Canal plan by the construction of the

Cengkareng Cengkareng is a district (''kecamatan'') on West Jakarta, Indonesia. The Duri-Tangerang and Tangerang-Jakarta railways pass through Cengkareng. Urban villages The district of Cengkareng is divided into six ''kelurahan'' or urban villages: * Kedau ...

drainage system.

East Flood Canal

The 23.6 km East Flood Canal flows from

East Jakarta ) in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), Jatinegara railway station and Museum of Transportation at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. , image_seal = Lambang Kota Jakarta Timur.png , motto = , image_map ...

North Jakarta North Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Utara; bew, Jakarte Belilir) is one of the five administrative cities (''kota administrasi'') which form Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. North Jakarta is not self-governed and does not have a city counci ...

. The width of the canal varies from 100 to 300 m. Construction began on 22 June 2002, but has been delayed due to problems in clearing the area. The East Flood Canal is planned to divert the

Ciliwung River Ci Liwung (often written as Ciliwung; also as Tjiliwoeng in Dutch, Sundanese: ᮎᮤᮜᮤᮝᮥᮀ) is a 119 km long river in the northwestern region of Java where it flows through two provinces, West Java and the special region of Jakarta. ...

Cipinang River The Cipinang River is a river flowing in the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. Cipinang river is a tributary of Sunter River, conjoining near I Gusti Ngurah Rai Street and Cipinang Muara Ilir Street, Jakarta, but in the middle it is cu ...

Sunter River The Sunter River or ''Kali Sunter'' is a river that flows in the eastern part of Jakarta, Indonesia. The river is about 37 km long and has 73,184,092 m2 of river basin. Neighborhoods along the Kali Sunter are very densely populated and prone ...

, Buaran River, Jati Kramat River, and Cakung River. During the

2013 Jakarta Flood The 2013 Jakarta flood was a flood in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, which, in addition to areas in downtown Jakarta, also affected several other areas surrounding the city, such as West Java and Banten. History Severe floods have been repor ...

, the East Flood Canal was still not connected to the Ciliwung River. The government plans to connect the two via a tunnel.

References

External links

*
Menanti Kendali Banjir Selesai
Kompas Newspaper *
Gatra Online Magazine
{{coord missing, Indonesia Flood control in Indonesia Flood control projects Water in Jakarta Buildings and structures in Jakarta