Indonesia
Society
An Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) volunteer fills residents’ jerrycans with clean water in Batangan village, Bangkalan regency, East Java on July 21, 2026, as residents struggled to access groundwater in their homes due to a prolonged dry season linked to this year's El Nino weather phenomenon. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
The government is stepping up preparations for the peak of a strong El Niño this year, as drought continues to spread through parts of the country, including Central Java.President Prabowo Subianto convened on Tuesday a closed-door meeting with ministers, agency heads and law enforcement agencies at the Presidential Palace complex in Central Jakarta, where they discussed measures to mitigate the impacts of El Niño, which is already exacerbating the dry season.
During the meeting, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) head Teuku Faisal Fathani warned that Indonesia had already seen the start of the weather phenomenon, noting a rise in sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius.
