| Citarum River | |
|---|---|
Bridge over the Citarum River |
|
| Origin | Mount Wayang, Bandung Regency, West Java |
| Mouth | Java Sea, Ujung Karawang, Karawang Regency, West Java, |
| Basin countries | Indonesia |
| Length | 300 km |
Citarum (Sundanese: Walungan Citarum) is a river in West Java, Indonesia. It has an important role in the life of the people of West Java, as it is used to support agriculture, water supply, fishery, industry, sewerage, electricity etc. There are three Hydroelectric powerplant dams installed along this river; Saguling, Cirata, and Ir. H. Djuanda (Jatiluhur) hydroelectric powerplants, all supplying the electricity for Bandung and Greater Jakarta area. The Jatiluhur Dam with capacity up to 2.5 billion cubic metre is the Indonesian biggest dam in capacity.[1]
The river is heavily polluted by human activity; about five million people live in the basin of the river.[2][3]
In Indonesian history the river is linked with 4th century Tarumanagara kingdom, as the kingdom and the river shared the same etymology, derived from the word "Tarum" (Sundanese for indigo plant). According to stone inscriptions and Chinese sources, also the archaeological sites such as Batujaya and Cibuaya, suggested that the human habitation and civilization has flourished in and around the river estuaries and river valley as early as 4th century and even earlier.
On December 5, 2008, the Asian Development Bank approved a $500 million loan for cleaning up the river, calling it the world's dirtiest.[4]
In November 2011, the river revitalization has been initialised with expected value Rp35 trillion ($4 billion) disbursement in 15 years. The revitalization will be done from Mount Wayang through 8 regency and 3 cities with 180 kilometer length. Targeted in the first 3 years will be picked up 10.5 million cubic meters of sedimentation.[5]