Photo Essay: As a Super El Niño Looms, Indonesia’s Crippling Drought Deepens
A photo essay details the severe drought in Sumur Bendung, Indonesia, where villagers, like 58-year-old Maia Ruda, spend hours daily collecting scarce water from a distant riverbed. The community has implemented a strict rationing system, with families getting limited turns to collect water due to the deepening crisis exacerbated by El Niño.
Why it matters
This article highlights the immediate and devastating human impact of climate change and extreme weather events like El Niño on vulnerable communities, underscoring the urgent need for water security and climate adaptation strategies.
This story was originally published by The Revelator . Subscribe to their newsletter.
The sound of rubber sandals crunching on dry bamboo leaves echoes in the fading light of Sumur Bendung. Maia Ruda, a 58-year-old mother, walks down a steep, tricky path toward a narrow riverbed in Gunung Batur village, Cilegon, carrying an empty 15-liter (4-gallon) plastic jug on her back. The path gets slipperier and more dangerous as it winds down the valley, where it cuts through mossy stone and damp earth.
As the sun sets, other women with their own 15-liter jugs are already waiting, talking in Javanese as they gather around small drips of water coming from the rocks. The villagers use hollow bamboo stalks and large antap ( Sterculia oblongata ) leaves to guide the trickle into their containers. Filling a 15-liter jug takes a difficult 30 minutes.
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