New 70m Deep Sinkhole Disrupting Tourist Traffic To Popular Bali Rice Terraces

Share The Article

One of Bali’s most popular tourist attractions, the Tegallang Rice Terraces, will be a little trickier to access for the foreseeable future.

Earlier this week, a giant sinkhole ruptured along the Tegallalang-Tampaksiring tourist road. Fortunately, the natural disaster has not caused any casualties but is playing havoc with transportation for the local communities and tourists. 

The sinkhole is a dramatic 30m in diameter and mammoth 70m in depth. The sinkhole appeared in Banjar Cebok in Kedisan Village along the Tegallalang-Tampaksiring road on Monday night.

The road provides an essential access route for local residents to reach their places of work, schools, and markets.

The road is also one of the busiest routes used by tourist taxi drivers to bring visitors to the world-famous Tegallalang Rice Terraces.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by INFO GIANYAR DAN BALI (@gianyarinfo_)

Speaking to reporters, the Chief Executive of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Gianyar Regency, Ida Bagus Suamba, confirmed that all relevant authorities have been responding with the utmost urgency to the situation throughout the week.

According to local residents, the road had shown signs of sinking since December 2021 due to extreme weather.

Despite calls for all but essential and local access traffic to be diverted until the road was repaired, warnings were ignored, and now officials say the damage will cost millions of dollars to repair. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by INFO GIANYAR DAN BALI (@gianyarinfo_)

Suamba told reporters, “This is still being investigated by the Gianyar Housing and Public Works Service (PUPR), in the study that has been carried out, the estimated costs spent on repairs by building a bridge could cost IDR 40 billion.”

Traffic for both tourism purposes and access for the local community is now being diverted as the investigation remains underway and the authorities start to piece together a plan to construct a bridge or safely fill in the land and build a new road. 

Suamba has confirmed, “Now the population mobility, [drivers] turn via Banjar Tangkup, approximately seven kilometers to get to the village office from Banjar Cebok and access to schools is also the same, most of Banjar Cebok’s children go to school in Kedisan, from Paud, Kindergarten, Elementary School, to Middle School.”

It is not only the road that has been damaged but a mains water supply. It is reported that 75 homes in the area are still experiencing issues with clean water supply as a result of the land collapse.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by INFO GIANYAR DAN BALI (@gianyarinfo_)

Work is underway to create a temporary piping system to ensure that the families impacted by the natural disaster have a clean water supply up and running again as soon as possible. 

Speaking separately the Head of the Gianyar Regency PUPR Service (Kadis), Dewa Gede Putra Hartawan, told reporters “We have carried out a survey, and currently several alternative solutions are being created for policy adoption.”

“However, seeing that the damaged and landslide roads will be repaired in 2024. It cannot be done this year because it will cost a lot of money.”

He added, “From the results of the survey, the PUPR Service will propose several alternatives and solutions which will then be decided by the Regent and Gianyar DPRD.”

“We have closed the road so that people don’t get close to the wide gaping hole in the road that still has the potential for further landslides. It’s dangerous for residents.” 

For tourists planning to visit the Tegallalang Rice Terraces in the coming weeks and months, there is little to worry about in terms of getting to the attraction.

This news has been circulated around the island and tourist drivers are well aware that the diversion is in place for the foreseeable future.

Traffic in and out of the Tegallalang Rice Terraces may be congested, especially at peak times but community leaders will be working with the authorities to help manage the flow of traffic in and out of the area. 

Tegallalang Rice Terraces is the most famous of Bali’s agricultural landscapes, though there are plenty more to discover.

The quiet paddies of Sidemen Village present a wonderful alternative for tourists looking to avoid the crowds, and the UNSECO Jatiluwih Rice Terraces are certainly not to be overlooked either.