Indonesian villagers dig up dry river bed in drought

The Star

It's been four, long, hot months since Sunardi's village has seen any rainfall as an El Nino-induced drought parches Indonesia, so the tobacco farmer does the only thing he can do to get water: dig up a dry river bed.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 For months, this village in Indonesia hasn't seen a drop of rain.

00:05 The rivers and wells have run dry and crops have withered.

00:09 So local tobacco farmer Senadi and other villagers do the only thing they can to get water.

00:15 Dig up the riverbed with their bare hands.

00:18 Since April, there hasn't been any rain in this village.

00:27 The wells in this area have run dry.

00:34 So the villagers have to dig up the riverbed.

00:44 Senadi's village has been digging up the riverbed since June, when the water in their wells ran out.

00:50 The water they collect here is often murky and salty.

00:54 But it's used for everything, from drinking and washing to irrigating crops.

00:58 The crops here are corn and aloes.

01:06 Tobacco can survive, but it doesn't grow as fast.

01:12 If it grows fast, it will be watered.

01:23 The El Niño weather phenomenon, which brings prolonged hot and dry weather, has made the situation worse.

01:30 Indonesia's weather agency BMKG says more than two-thirds of the nation have been affected.

01:37 Agriculture accounts for nearly 14% of Indonesia's GDP, and a third of the labor force work in farming.

01:45 BMKG official Tris Adi Sudkoko says that with rainfall rates drastically lower,

01:51 villagers like Senadi should alter their crop patterns.

01:55 We need more clean water than in the last three years.

01:59 In the last three years, the drought in 2022, 2021 and 2020 was not as bad as this year.

02:07 This year, the drought is worse, so we need to use more anti-pollution.

02:12 We also need to be more aware of the needs in agriculture.

02:17 If we continue to plant like we did last year, we will need to be more careful.

02:26 But Senadi says it's too late for that kind of a change.

02:30 If there is no water in the river, we need to find a place to plant.

02:38 Sometimes we have to limit the water supply.

02:45 [Music]

02:52 [Music fades]

Category

Transcript

Recommended