Indonesia Ramps Up Drought and El Nino Preparedness with Weather Modification

Indonesia is bracing for the dual threat of drought and the El Nino phenomenon, prompting President Prabowo Subianto to issue directives for ministries and agencies to implement preventative measures. The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) is central to this strategy, focusing on weather modification operations.

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Also, to anticipate forest and land fires through wetting the easily flammable areas via weather modification. Much of the discussion focused on weather modification.

BMKG Head Teuku Faisal Fathani announced that the agency will strengthen its support by ensuring water availability in reservoirs and conducting weather modification. These operations will target six provinces, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan, with periodic interventions to keep peatlands moist and less prone to fires. Similar operations are planned for specific locations in the Riau Archipelago and Aceh.

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Periodic weather modification operations will saturate the soil and peatlands, making them less susceptible to fire. We are also conducting weather modification in the Riau Archipelago and in Aceh, at specific locations depending on the situation and conditions.

Beyond fire prevention, weather modification will also aim to replenish reservoirs across Indonesia. This effort involves collaboration with the Ministry of Forestry and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to secure water for hydroelectric power, irrigation, and clean water supplies. Faisal emphasized that this proactive approach, focusing on prevention rather than solely on post-fire suppression like waterbombing, marks an improvement in the government's disaster management strategy.

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Filling the reservoirs in Indonesia, we have 240 reservoirs, not all of which are being filled to be used for hydroelectric power plants, irrigation, and clean water.