The Most Polluted River in the World, Citarum

River, Indonesia
Citarum River-Ironic between History and Environmental Tragedy by Titisari Juwitaningtyas (INDONESIA)
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The Citarum has been called the world's most polluted river. Around 5 million people live in
the river's basin, and most of them rely on its flow for their water supply. Heavy pollution of
river water by household and industrial waste in the Indonesian province of West Java is
threatening the health of at least five million people living on the riverbanks, say government
officials and water experts.

Citarum River flows from headwaters in the South of Bandung (Windu) towards the North
and its canal is in Kerawang (West Java). With 225 kilometres in length, makes this river the
longest river in West Java. The Citarum River comes from two words, namely Ci and Tarum.
In the Sundanese language (one of the local languages in Indonesia), the word “Ci” or “Cai”
means water and Tarum” which means plants with purple colour. In the 5th century, from a
small village built on the side of the river by Jayasinghawarman, another area became
crowded and later became the basis of a large Kingdom in Indonesia, namely the Kingdom of
Tarumanegara, the oldest Hindu Kingdom in West Java.

The river becomes very important as a source of water for 25 million people who are spread
across nine counties and three cities in West Java; they are Bandung Regency, Karawang,
Purwakarta Regency, Cianjur, Bandung, Cimahi and Bekasi. As well as 15 million people
who live along the riverbanks. The huge potency of it is due to the vast watershed that
reaches 6.614 kilometres square. With the River, about 420 thousand hectares of rice field in
West Java, especially in the coastal areas of the North, can be flowed by water through
irrigation networks and reservoirs. The Citarum River flows in several reservoirs like
Saguling, Jatiluhur and Cirata Reservoirs. The River is also a source of water power plant
that produces (HYDROELECTRIC POWER) electrical power to Java and Bali of 1,400
Megawatts.

Behind the famous name of Citarum River, the River has a complex problem that is very
embarrassing. Till this day, the River is still in a very poor condition. According to the head
of the House of Commons of the Citarum River, a river that had flourished in the 1970s now
belongs to the tainted heavily. It even had a chance to be crowned the world’s most polluted
rivers! The condition is caused by the large number of concern industrial waste as well as the
household directly dumped into the river without being processed first. Every day people
dispose of 400 tonnes of waste of livestock into the River. Every day, as many as 25 thousand
cubic of household waste accommodated there and 280 tonnes of industrial waste flowed
towards the Citarum River. Those things are causing pollution and sedimentation in the
Citarum River. The sad thing is there are 46 thousand hectares of critical land in the upper
course of Citarum River. It also results in increased sedimentation of the River. Aquacultures
farming that do not comply with the rules of the conservation and control of land in the area
of the upper function became one of the causes of the emergence of these critical lands.

To renovate the river, Asian Development Bank (ADB) is willing to give a loan of 500
million US Dollars to the Government of Indonesia. The people in the sides of Citarum River
also should be able to dream that someday their children can return to swim in the water
safely” and the fish swim in the river again..

Question:

A. Please translate the above article into Indonesian

B. Please answer following questions

1. Where can you locate Citarum river?

2. How long Citarum river?

3. Can you identify the functions of Citarun river

4. Can you tell story of Citarum river?

5. Do you agree with the statement mentioned in the title? Why?

6. How Indonesian government takes action to clean up Citarum river from

pollution?

7. What are functions of Citarum reservoirs?

8. Why every year in rainy session we have flood in Bale Endah in Bandung
regency? How do you feel if you were living in Bale Endah?

9. What is your dream about Citarum river?

10. Please compare Citarum river with the river near your home town?

Citarum telah disebut sebagai sungai paling tercemar di dunia. Sekitar 5.000.000 orang
tinggal di cekungan sungai, dan sebagian besar dari merek9a bergantung pada aliran untuk
pasokan air mereka. Polusi berat air sungai oleh sampah rumah tangga dan industri di
Provinsi Jawa Barat Indonesia mengancam kesehatan sedikitnya 5.000.000 orang yang
tinggal di tepi sungai, kata pejabat pemerintah dan ahli air.

Sungai Citarum mengalir dari hulu di Bandung Selatan (Windu) menuju utara dan kanal-nya
berada di kerawang (Jawa Barat). Dengan panjang 225 kilometer, menjadikan sungai ini
sungai terpanjang di Jawa Barat. Sungai Citarum berasal dari dua kata yaitu CI dan Tarum.
Dalam bahasa Sunda (salah satu bahasa lokal di Indonesia), kata "CI" atau "Cai" berarti air
dan Tarum "yang berarti tanaman dengan warna ungu. Pada abad ke-5, dari sebuah desa kecil
yang dibangun di sisi sungai oleh Jayasinghawarman, daerah lain menjadi ramai dan
kemudian menjadi basis kerajaan besar di Indonesia, yaitu Kerajaan Tarumanegara, kerajaan
Hindu tertua di Jawa Barat.
Sungai menjadi sangat penting sebagai sumber air untuk 25.000.000 orang yang tersebar di
sembilan Kabupaten dan tiga kota di Jawa Barat; mereka adalah Kabupaten Bandung,
Karawang, Kabupaten Purwakarta, Cianjur, Bandung, Cimahi dan Bekasi. Dan juga
15.000.000 orang yang tinggal di sepanjang tepi sungai. Potensi besar itu adalah karena Das
yang luas yang mencapai 6,614 kilometer persegi. Dengan sungai, sekitar 420.000 hektar
sawah di Jawa Barat, terutama di daerah pesisir utara, dapat dialir oleh air melalui jaringan
irigasi dan waduk. Sungai Citarum mengalir di beberapa waduk seperti Saguling, Jatiluhur
dan waduk Cirata. Sungai ini juga merupakan sumber pembangkit listrik tenaga air
(HYDROELECTRIC POWER) yang mampu menghasilkan tenaga elektrik ke Jawa dan Bali
1.400 megawatt.

Di balik nama Sungai Citarum yang terkenal, sungai ini memiliki masalah kompleks yang
sangat memalukan. Sampai hari ini, sungai masih dalam kondisi yang sangat miskin.
Menurut kepala House of Commons di Sungai Citarum, sebuah sungai yang telah
berkembang pada tahun 1970-an sekarang menjadi milik ternoda berat. Bahkan memiliki
kesempatan untuk dinobatkan di dunia yang paling tercemar Sungai! Kondisi ini disebabkan
oleh banyaknya kekhawatiran limbah industri serta rumah tangga yang langsung dibuang ke
dalam sungai tanpa diolah terlebih dahulu. Setiap hari orang membuang 400 ton limbah
ternak ke sungai. Setiap hari, sebanyak 25000 kubik limbah rumah tangga ditampung di sana
dan 280 ton limbah industri mengalir ke arah Sungai Citarum. Hal tersebut menyebabkan
polusi dan sedimentasi di Sungai Citarum. Hal yang menyedihkan adalah 46000 hektar lahan
kritis di Hulu Sungai Citarum. Hal ini juga mengakibatkan sedimentasi meningkat dari
sungai. Budidaya pertanian yang tidak sesuai dengan aturan konservasi dan pengendalian
tanah di daerah fungsi atas menjadi salah satu penyebab munculnya tanah kritis ini.

Untuk merenovasi sungai, Bank Pembangunan Asia (ADB) bersedia memberikan pinjaman
500.000.000 dolar AS kepada pemerintah Indonesia. Orang di tepi Sungai Citarum juga harus
bisa bermimpi bahwa suatu hari nanti anak mereka bisa kembali berenang di air dengan
selamat "dan ikan berenang di sungai lagi..