At least ten people have been killed and more than 20 people are missing due to flash floods and a landslide, triggered by torrential rains on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island. Yuslim Yunus, the Local Police chief said on November 9, 2012, that the landslide had blocked the river in Batanguru village of Mamasa district, which had caused it to burst out of its banks and wash away seven houses.
Yunus added that ten bodies were recovered late yesterday, these were of people who had drowned and were buried in the mud. There are chances that the death toll might increase, as rescue workers continue to search for people who are missing. In Indonesia, seasonal downpours cause frequent landslides and flash floods. The Asian country is part of a chain of 17,000 islands, where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.
Earlier, the Japan International Corporation Agency had offered Indonesia new technology to help develop underground reservoirs, as a solution to their incessant flood control issue. The technology will be tested by JICA and the Indonesian Public Works Ministry, who are in talks with Jakarta and Bogor, West Java.
In Jakarta there isn’t much space for rainwater catchments, but the Japanese Cross Wave system uses polypropylene sheets and channeling devices to line underground reservoirs.
