Based on the BNPB's analysis, weather modification would be sufficiently effective to reduce the high rain intensity and help SAR team to carry out the evacuation process.
The Meratus Mountains, which are almost 200 million years old, have a complex geological history. This area has been designated as a national geopark in 2018.
Rafflesia arnoldii R. Br was blooming for the first time as a result of cultivation in the Bogor Botanical Gardens.
TheIndonesia.id - Nusantara River Expedition found that the Citanduy and Ciwulan rivers in the Tasikmalaya Regency/City, West Java, had been polluted with large piles of plastic waste, causing the river water quality to deteriorate. The flow of this river threatens the Pangandaran Sea or the South Java Sea in general.
"Bad waste management by Tasikmalaya City and Tasikmalaya Regency has encouraged people to throw their garbage on the banks of the Ciwulan River, more than 50 illegal waste generation was found in the Ciwulan River," said researcher and Coordinator of Nusantara River Expedition, Amiruddin Muttaqin, through a press release in Tasikmalaya, Sunday, April 3, 2022.
He said the research in the field found that there was a lot of plastic waste in the river which caused microplastic contamination in the water of the Ciwulan River. Plastic waste that is not managed, he said, will be fragmented into microplastics or small flakes smaller than 5 mm which can eventually damage the environment and the lives of living things.
"Our findings in the Ciwulan River show that there are 180 microplastic particles in 100 liters of water," said Amiruddin, an alumnus of UPN Surabaya Environmental Engineering.
He said that of the 180 particles, the most were 100 particles of fiber, 60 filaments, and 20 plastic fragments. Besides the Ciwulan River, he said, the condition of the Citanduy River, which was also found with a lot of garbage, would threaten the pollution of the Pangandaran and Central Java seas, the biggest fishing centers in Java.
Another researcher from the Nusantara River Expedition, Prigi Arisandi added that the Tasikmalaya Regency Government and the Tasikmalaya City Government must control waste generation in the Ciwulan River by making regulations that prohibit the use of single-use plastics such as styrofoam, crackle, straws, plastic bottles, sachets, and diapers.
"Industry must redesign the packaging they use so that it can be used repeatedly or provide 'refill' depots and they must participate in managing the packaging waste that is now flooding Ciwulan," said Prigi Arisandi.
Most of the garbage found in the river was in the form of food packaging and personal needs from various products such as packaging for soap, drinks, toothpaste, instant coffee packaging, and unnamed products such as straws or crackle bags. The existence of waste from the company's products proves for the company is responsible according to the law.
"Producers who produce waste must be responsible for the waste they produce or in the Waste Management Law 18/2008 it is called EPR or extended producer responsibility for the waste they produce," he said.
