Ciliwung

The natural flow of Ciliwung was diverted into canals by the Dutch during the early settlement of Jakarta (then named as Batavia). Beginning in area that is now Istiqlal Mosque, the Ciliwung was diverted into two canals, one flowing northwest and one flowing northeast.

The western branch flows along the canal of Jalan Veteran and then through the canal of Jalan Gajah Mada. This 2 km straight canal is known as Batang Hari canal, previously known as Molenvliet, which was dug in the 17th century. Formerly the water branches into two direction in Glodok, following the two course that is now Jalan Pancoran and Jalan Pinangsia Raya; today the water from Batang Hari canal was diverted east before Lindeteves Trade Center. Eventually the water ends up in Sunda Kelapa harbor after passing through the canals of Jakarta Old Town.

The eastern branch of Ci Liwung passing through a canal near Mangga Dua Square

The eastern branch flows along the canal of Jalan Antara, passing the Gedung Kesenian Jakarta and then along the canal of Jalan Gunung Sahari. The water ends up in Ancol.

Initially a canal links the eastern and the western branches of Ciliwung. Today this canal, which is now located on the south side of Jalan Tol Pelabuhan, was filled with slum settlement due to careless planning after the independence period.

After the 1918 Jakarta's big flood, a new canal, the Banjir canal ("flood canal"), was constructed in 1922 to divert the water of several rivers of Jakarta, which includes Ciliwung, Cideng, and Krukut. The flow of Ciliwung was diverted through the Manggarai floodgate, constructed at the point near Manggarai station. The water is diverted to the west of the city through Pasar Rumput, Dukuh Atas and going to northwest to Karet Kubur and continued to Tanah Abang, Tomang, Grogol, Pademangan, and ends at Muara Angke.

The New East Flood Canal has been opened since 2010, a 23 kilometers canal from Cipinang River to the east and then to the north of Java Sea as a quarter of a circle with 100 to 300 meters width.[4] On December 19, 2013 a contract to build water tunnel(s) to East Flood Canal from Ciliwung River with minimum capacity of 60 cubic meters per second has been signed by Public Works Ministry.[5] So, the floods in East Jakarta to the north and along the Ciliwung River will be eased.

17th-century map of the area south of Batavia, showing River Ciliwung with outposts protecting the road from Batavia to Fort Padjajaran (now Bogor), the River Cisadane, and Citarik.

The Ciliwung River Basin has been populated at least since the 4th century. Two kingdoms were founded along the Upper Ciliwung in Bogor; Tarumanegara (4th-5th Century) with its King Purnawarman and Sunda (15th-16th Century) with its King Sri Baduga. The existence of these Kingdoms is found from ancient inscriptions at Ciaruteun (Tarumanagara) and Batutulis (Padjajaran).[1]

In the early 16th-century, Ciliwung was an important mean of transportation from the fortified city of Pakuan Pajajaran, the capital of Hindu Sunda Kingdom. Sunda Kelapa, located at the mouth of Ciliwung (more or less at the north end of present Kali Besar), was the main harbor of the Kingdom of Sunda.[6] Among the many epithets of the king Sri Baduga Maharaja, was Prabu Haliwungan - so called because of his temperamental attitude. The river Ci Haliwung or Ci Liwung was probably named after the king's epithet. The name Ci Haliwung or Tji Haliwoeng was recorded in the map of C.M. Pleyte (1919).[7]

During the rise of the Hindu Kingdom of Sunda, Ciliwung became the important mean of transportation for the kingdom. To protect Sunda Kelapa from the Islamic Sultanate of Cirebon and Demak, Prabu Surawisesa (recorded by the Portuguese as Samian) was instructed by the king to sign a peace treaty with the Portuguese to trade in pepper in exchange to a permission to built a fort to protect the main port of Sunda Kalapa. The pact was immortalized in a 1522 padrão. Despite the treaty, the Portuguese failed to construct the fort at the given year. The padrão of Sunda Kelapa was found by Fatahillah, commander of the Sultanate of Demak, and was fell into the Ciliwung without any ceremony. The padrão will only be rediscovered in 1918.[7]

A map showing the transformation of the mouth of Ciliwung into canals flowing through the inner city and moat flowing around the city and the fort of Batavia.

Sunda Kelapa was used as the main port by the Dutch (1619) who constructed a fort at the east bank of the estuary and founded Batavia, the largest city and the capital of the East Indies Empire, until the city was transformed into Jakarta after the independence of Indonesia.[8] Sultanate of Banten (1527)[8]

With the establishment of Batavia in the 17th century, the Dutch diverted Ciliwung into canals following a typical Dutch city pattern. The waters of Ciliwung was also channeled to form two inner and outer moats and a wall surrounding the city of Batavia. The largest canal which flows through the middle of Batavia was named Kali Besar or Dutch Grote Rivier ("Big River"). Small boats sailed along Ciliwung to transport goods from warehouses close to Kali Besar to ships anchored at the port.[9]

The maintenance of the canals within the walled city of Batavia is difficult because of its frequent sedimentation. In the middle of the 1630s, the canals became really shallow, making it difficult for ships to enter Batavia. In order to deal with this, an 800 m long ditch was constructed to the sea that was routinely dredged to ease the flow of water. The length of the ditch increased to 1,350 m (1827) from the mouth of the river due to accumulation of sand and mud and what more with the earthquake in January 1699[9]

Ciliwung tributary that empties into the ocean was used for ship entrance into the castle from the canals to Waterpoort. The water of the canals were used by the citizens for drinking water. In 1689, the canals were still unpolluted and could be used for drinking water. The earthquake, which occurred in January 1699, caused the increase in sedimentation level. Heaps of mud and sand accumulated in the ditch that was dredged to ease the flow of the water to and from the river.[9]

In 1740, the canal of Batavia was considered unhealthy because of rubbish and the waste from the Binnen Hospital discharged into the river. Many patients suffered from dysentery and cholera. The unhygienic drinking water caused high death rates among the Batavia citizens. On the other hand, most of the Chinese who drank tea rarely got sick. Aware of this, many Dutch people ate tea leaves to stay healthy, but obviously this attempt did not succeed. By the end of the 18th century, Doctor Thunberg still prescribed tea leaves instead of boiled water. It was still unknown at that time that bacteria can be killed by boiling water until boiling point. The Dutch still drank water from Ciliwung through the 19th century. Water from Ciliwung was initially stored in a reservoir (waterplaats or aquada) near Fort Jacatra, north of the city. Later the reservoir was transferred to the sides of Molenvliet in Glodok area. The reservoir contains wooden water outlets which pour water from the height of about 10 feet. The local people knows the area around this reservoir as Pancuran. Back then when Molenvliet was deep enough for boats to sail, annual Peh Cun or Dragon Boat festival were held in the river.[9]

Outside Batavia, within the ommelanden (area surrounding Batavia), canals were constructed by channeling the waters of the rivers surrounding Batavia (e.g. Ciliwung, River Ancol, River Angke, River Krukut, and River Grogol). The creation of canals are mainly to improve transportation of goods to the walled city of Batavia and to expand agricultural land by draining the water of the marshes surrounding Batavia to be converted into arable land.

In 1648, the Ciliwung was connected with the Krukut via Molenvliet.[10] There was an attempt to close the Ciliwung river course north of Noordwijk.[11] The part of the river was dammed so that the river was forced to flow westward via Molenvliet.[11] Despite the attempt, seasonal flooding occurred where the Ciliwung forced its water to flow back to its old tributary, which was still happening around 1725.[11]

In 1681, the Ciliwung flow was diverted toward the east along the Postweg (now Jalan Pos) to reach a new canal known as Gunung Sahari Canal. Gunung Sahari Canal divert the flow of Ciliwung to reach the Java Sea to the north, near the mouth of River Ancol (now the canal near Dunia Fantasi). In the Gunung Sahari Canal, the Ciliwung merged again with its old course at the Krekot Sentiong area. The construction of Gunung Sahari canal caused frequent flooding in the area along the Noordwijk (now Jalan Ir. H. Juanda). Because of this, a lock was constructed at the west side of the Noordwijk (named schutsluis Noordwijk, later becoming the Willemsluis) to protect Noordwijk from flooding, The lock gives name to the streets surrounding the area Jalan Pintu Air ("water lock street").[10]

The part of Ciliwung that flows straight from Harmoni to the north used to be a private river with toll payments for those who wanted to pass through it. This river was named Molenvliet and it was built by the Dutch by Kapitein der Chinezen (head of the Chinese in Betawi), Phoa Beng Gan known as Beng Gan. In 1648, Beng Gan received permission from the Company to build this river and collected toll payments from sampans that passed through. In 1654, it was taken over by the Company for 1.000 real.

A coordination meeting on January 20, 2014 among the Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Environment, Jakarta Governor, Bogor Mayor, Bogor Regent and Ciliwung-Cisadane Rivers Control Office agreed to build Ciliwung to Cisadane River to ease Ciliwung debit when Cisadane is not in flood condition.[14] The tunnel is 2.9 kilometers long and diameter of six meters.[15]