A complete inventory has been taken of the infrastructure that would most likely be damaged, should Bali’s Mount Agung erupt. Roads and bridges would be hit hard.
The volcano could go off at any hour now and since Friday, has been at the highest alert for a potential eruption. Over 75,000 people have reportedly evacuated in anticipation of an eruption.
The head of the National Road Implementing Agency (BBPJN) VIII, Ketut Darmawahana, has inventoried all the infrastructure that might be affected from an Agung eruption. Darmawahana shared his findings on Tuesday.
“The forecasted road and bridge infrastructure that would be impacted, include 61 kilometers of national road, 29 bridges, with eight of those bridges on major rivers,” he said, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
The director added that on the provincial level, around 88 kilometers of road and 28 bridges could potentially be subjected to lava.
And on a regency level, 598 kilometers of road and 21 bridges could be impacted.
To make matter worse, the BBPJN VIII director also talked about the effects on drinking water.
“The infrastructure for drinking water that would be affected includes East Tianyar Village, Kubu, Sebudi, and Selat.”
Nine river basins could be impacted, which Darmawahana listed as Tukad Unda, Tukad Buhu, Tukad Jangga, Tukad Batuniti, Tukad Nusu, Tukad Sringin/Daya, Tukad Ringuang, Tukad Peninggungan, and Tukad Abu.
This is problematic because there are 12 total basins around Agung that could be used for evacuees, but nine of them are in the volcano’s “danger zone,” says head of the Bali Penida River Agency, Ketut Jayada.
“So they cannot be optimally used to meet clean water demands of the evacuees,” Jayada said.
In addition, other infrastructure estimated to be damaged would include 87 sabo dams (debris-filtering dams), five kantong lahar (structures reinforcing against lava lows), and 4,270 hectares of rice paddy fields.
