Antara News · জলবায়ু

BNPB intensifies weather modification in three fire-hit provinces

২১/১০/২০২৬

Jakarta (ANTARA) -

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) continues weather modification operations in West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Sumatra to address forest and land fires, despite natural rainfall in some areas.

BNPB's Head for Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center, Berton Panjaitan, said 1,000 kg of salt is used in a single sortie during daily weather modification operations in West Kalimantan, covering the Ketapang and Kayong Utara areas.

Meanwhile, officers deployed 3,900 kilograms of dry ice and 800 kilograms of salt across six sorties in Central Kalimantan. Both materials were dispersed simultaneously due to the widespread distribution of forest and land fire hotspots.

"Central Kalimantan recorded the highest number of unextinguished areas, at over 321 hectares," he informed on Wednesday.

In South Kalimantan, the agency did not conduct weather modification directly. Instead, it deployed aircraft to support operations in Central Kalimantan across Tapin, Banjar, Barito Kuala, and Kotabaru districts.

Similar support was also implemented in South Sumatra through three flight sorties, distributing 1,600 kg of dry ice and 800 kg of salt, primarily focused on the cities of Palembang, Banyuasin, Ogan Komering Ilir, and Ogan Ilir.

Panjaitan said his office had also placed aircraft on standby in Riau to support air task force operations in South Sumatra, where 80 hectares of forest and land fires remained unextinguished.

"We did not carry out weather modification in Jambi Province due to unfavorable cloud cover, but aircraft from Riau were on standby to help support flight operations in South Sumatra," he explained.

Alongside weather modification and other aerial operations, BNPB has distributed ground equipment, including water pumps and personal protective equipment (PPE), to firefighting teams from government agencies, the military, police, local governments, and the private sector.

মূল প্রতিবেদনে যান ↗