October 28, 2011
Yogyakarta. A year ago this week Mount Merapi kicked off a series of eruptions that would become its most violent in more than a century, killing more than 300 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.
Fast-moving clouds of superheated gas and ash scorched entire villages as they raced from the crater down the volcano’s slopes. It was in one of these pyroclastic flows on Oct. 26, 2010, that killed Mbah Maridjan, the legendary “keeper” of Merapi, after he refused calls to evacuate.
The eruptions peaked on Nov. 5, with a spectacular ash plume extending 14 kilometers into the atmosphere. Also on that date, 88 people were killed when a torrent of lava destroyed their village 17 kilometers from the crater. The eruption also sent a rain of lava descending on villages up to 30 kilometers away.
It was not until early December that the rumbling eased and the eruptions were officially declared over. But the disaster did not end there.
The rainy season that year and into early 2011 washed millions of tons of ash deposits that had blanketed Merapi’s slopes into the series of rivers running down to Yogyakarta, Magelang and other parts of Central Java.
These torrents of mud, or lahar, washed out entire bridges, cut off roads and flooded homes and fields for months after the eruptions first began.
Tens of thousands of people were made homeless by the lahar and the imposition of a 20-kilometer exclusion radius around the volcano’s crater. A year later, many are still living in temporary shelters, despite government pledges to build them new homes in safer areas.
Ghost Towns
“It’s all just talk, there are no new homes for us,” said Asihono, Mbah Maridjan’s third son and Merapi’s new keeper. “There are now 2,863 families from Kinorejo who are still waiting for the homes,” he adds, referring to his father’s home village in Yogyakarta’s Sleman district.
“The situation in Kinorejo is as you’d expect: everything is scorched and it’s going to take a long time before it returns to the way it was. In the year that we’ve lived in the shelter, we’ve only received government aid three times.”
The story is much the same for the residents of nearby Wukirsari and Ngancar villages, where residents have slowly returned and now live in tiny bamboo shacks. The government previously said it would build 2,600 new homes in Wukirsari, but it has only completed 600.
“We don’t know what to do,” said Basuki, a villager. “We’re having to make do as best as we can while we wait for the government’s next move.”
In Ngancar, the main concern now is how the flimsy shacks will cope with the imminent monsoons.
“It’s not just about leaky roofs,” said village chief Teguh. “We’re also worried because the drainage system no longer works. We just want permanent homes so we can get on with our lives.”
While most say they have no choice but wait for government help, others are fed up with waiting. Marno, from Kali Tengah village in Sleman, rebuilt his own house, despite the fact that the area has been categorized by the authorities as being in a high-risk area.
“I’m just rebuilding and taking care of the home that my parents left me,” he said. “I’ll fix whatever I can. As for the risk of another eruption — it’s not like it happens every year.”
He added that even though he lost all of his belongings in the eruption, including his herd of cattle, he would rather strike out on his own than languish in a government-run shelter and have to depend on hand-outs.
Imminent Threat
Asihono said he understands the frustration, but adds all that he can offer is advice about preparing for the renewed threat of lahar as the rainy season this year gets underway.
“People need to stay alert at all times because the threat of lahar hitting their areas is very real as we move into the rainy season,” he said.
Officials concede that the housing crisis is a crucially important issue, given the thousands of people whose lives have been put on hold because of the lack of permanent housing, but it stresses that destroyed homes cannot simply be rebuilt where they once stood.
Subandrio, head of the Volcano Investigation and Technology Development Institution (BPPTK), said that detailed zoning plans are being drawn up to ensure that the new homes and villages do not lie in the path of known lava channels, pyroclastic flows or lahar.
“It’s important that we keep track of where the villagers settle down so that we can reduce the risk of casualties from future eruptions,” he said.
He added that the eruptions in 2010 have literally changed Merapi’s landscape, widening the crater’s caldera to a diameter of 500 meters and depth of 200 meters.
The change means that the new danger zone has widened from the southern flank to the southern and southeastern flanks of the volcano, making it more important than ever to institute proper zoning, Subandrio said.
He also warns about the potential for more lahar this year.
“The eruptions last year displaced around 100 million cubic meters of volcanic ash around the mountain,” he said.
“By our estimates, there are still around 90 million cubic meters lying around. So the threat of lahar is very real, especially with high-intensity rainfall.”
Subandrio said the areas most at risk from the torrents of volcanic mud include Klaten in Central Java, which is served by the Woro River, and Pabelan subdistrict in Magelang, which is served by the Krasak River.
“The flow of the lahar this time around won’t be much different from last time. It will still follow the same rivers and channels, so in order to reduce casualties and damage, we need to improve the chain of warning posts on the ground,” he said.
For Asihono, all that matters is that the villagers can return to the way of life that they have practiced for generations.
(rtead in the JG)
za 29 okt 2011 - 0:31