A disaster that never ends: Mudflow tragedy in Indonesia’s Lapindo still shapes lives 20 years on
June 1, 2026SIDOARJO – Under the sweltering afternoon sun, 47-year-old Ahmad Solihudin waits outside his home in Glagaharum village, Porong district, Sidoarjo regency, East Java, for the familiar sound of a traveling water vendor’s motorcycle. When the vendor finally arrives, Solihudin hurries to buy three 25-liter plastic containers for Rp 15,000 (84 US cents), the clean water his family depends on each day.For nearly 20 years, this has been part of Solihudin’s daily routine, a lasting consequence of the Lapindo mudflow disaster, which erupted in Porong district in 2006 and buried thousands of homes across nearby villages.Although authorities managed to restrain the mudflow above ground by constructing embankments rising 9–11 meters high, they have not been able to contain its impact beneath the surface, where it continues to seep through the soil, contaminating wells and damaging groundwater supplies in surrounding communities.“Since the disaster, the well water here has tasted salty. It’s greasy too, like it contains oil. Even soap can’t wash it away. During the dry season, the water quality gets even worse and it turns black,” he said.With water quality this poor, Solihudin, like most residents in his village, has no choice but to spend a significant portion of his modest income on clean water delivered by traveling vendors who bring supplies from outside the regency, at a cost of up to Rp 450,000 a month.The environmental damage of the mudflow extends far beyond household wells. Hundreds of hectares of rice fields that once yielded abundant harvests now lie abandoned around the mudflow area. Farmers say saline groundwater causes newly planted crops to wither within days.Solihudin pointed to stretches of farmland near his home, just about 100 meters from the eastern side of the mud embankment, where productive rice fields have since turned into empty plots overgrown with wild grass. Some are now used only as grazing land for buffalo.“It’s been more than 10 years since these fields could grow rice or any other crops,” he said. “The owner tried to sell it cheaply, but no one wants to buy it, so he’s just left it as it is.”The mudflow began as a result of drilling activities conducted by PT Lapindo Brantas in Sidoarjo on May 29, 2006. The company, however, maintained that the eruption was triggered by an earthquake that occurred two days earlier.The hot mud eruption, initially releasing around 100 cubic meters per day, eventually submerged 16 villages across the Porong, Jabon and Tanggulangin districts, displacing around 60,000 residents.It is widely regarded as one of the largest ecological disasters in Indonesian history, burying approximately 10,426 houses, 77 places of worship and vast areas of farmland, as well as public facilities and infrastructure.Although nearly two decades have passed, the eruption continues at a reduced intensity. To manage the ongoing flow, the government constructed a 640-hectare retention pond and has continuously diverted the mud into the nearby Porong River, with an estimated discharge of around 20 million cubic meters per year.Constant anxietyAgainst the backdrop of the ongoing mud eruption, daily life for Munir, 46, a resident of Gempolsari village on the northern edge of the embankment, has become defined by constant anxiety.Continuous land subsidence caused by the mudflow has gradually turned his neighborhood into a low-lying basin, where rainwater easily accumulates and drains slowly, heightening the risk of flooding.Whenever heavy rain falls, floodwater quickly inundates the road in front of his house, which is located just 100 meters from the embankment. Munir said his neighborhood is often among the last areas to dry out after major floods.According to research by experts from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), land subsidence extends up to 5 kilometers north and northeast of the mudflow center, with the ground sinking by as much as 40 centimeters per year.“The inside of my house has already been raised by about 60 centimeters,” Munir said. “I recently bought a truckload of soil for Rp 150,000 to elevate the yard. If I don’t, it keeps flooding because the area has turned into a basin, and the water takes a long time to recede.”For Slamet, 55, another resident of Gempolsari village, the consequences of the mudflow have been just as profound. The disaster forced him, and many others, to abandon farming, as once-productive fields were rendered unusable after being buried or contaminated by the mudflow.Slamet now earns a living selling fish. Around him, he says, neighbors have taken similar paths, shifting into small trade, motorcycle taxi services or other informal work available in the area.“What we earn now is nothing like when we were farming, but we have no other choice if we want to feed our families.”Beyond depriving him of his livelihood, the mudflow disaster has deeply disrupted Slamet’s daily life at home. Thick dust and pungent odors regularly drift from the site, becoming especially unbearable during the dry season.“The stench makes it hard to breathe,” Slamet said. “When the dry season comes, the mud thickens and has to be diluted before it can be discharged into the Porong River through pipelines. That mixing process releases an overwhelming smell, and many children living near the embankment frequently experience shortness of breath.”Losing hopeThe polluted air brings not only a persistent foul odor, but also serious health risks for residents living near the mudflow site.A 2008 study by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) found alarming levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), hazardous pollutants associated with an increased risk of cancer, in the air and water surrounding the mudflow embankment. The concentrations were recorded at levels 2,000 times higher than normal safety standards.Another WALHI study in 2016 identified at least 10 illnesses affecting residents in the area, with respiratory infections emerging as the most widespread. That year alone, around 16,700 residents were reported to have suffered respiratory infections, while the number of recorded cases had reached 63,750 in 2010.Despite the constant threat of flooding, ongoing land subsidence and mounting health risks linked to contaminated water, soil and air, residents say there has been no meaningful long-term resolution from the government to address the enduring impacts of the mudflow.Slamet recalls that in the early years following the disaster, residents frequently organized protests and voiced their demands. However, after years of unresolved grievances without meaningful solutions, many gradually lost hope.“People used to complain and protest, but now we are tired because there’s no solution. We’ve simply learned to live with the situation,” he said. (nal)
