Preserving the banks of Bengawan Solo

Budi who was born and raised on the banks of the Bengawan Solo, is aware of the risk of flooding. So he became a disaster mitigation volunteer and works actively to preserve the riverbanks by planting vetiver.

KOMPAS/ERWIN EDHI PRASETYA

Sri Mahanani Budi Utomo

Thousands of vetiver grasses grow today on the banks of the Bengawan Solo (Solo River) in Sewu subdistrict, Jebres district, Solo, Central Java. Budi and other volunteers planted the grass, which prevents soil erosion and landslides along the riverbank.

"Planting began in 2016 for disaster mitigation," Budi, who chairs the Community-Based Disaster Preparedness (Sibat) program of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), said on Tuesday (4/2/2020) in the Sewu subdistrict of Solo.