Weather Modification Operations Aim to Reduce Jakarta Rainfall

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) will conduct weather modification operations to reduce rainfall that has lashed the Greater Jakarta area and caused flooding in the region.

"The weather modification will be conducted by the BNPB over Bogor, Bekasi, Tangerang, and Jakarta as the focus areas," Jakarta’s Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Head, Isnawa Adji, stated here on Monday.

While the BNPB proceeds with its operation, Jakarta BPBD will consult with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to determine whether another weather modification effort by BPBD is necessary, he explained.

The local agency head stated that the provincial authority is also monitoring cloud development over South Jakarta and East Jakarta for the same purpose.

"We will wait for the latest forecast from BMKG before conducting our own weather modification," Adji remarked.

Maintaining constant coordination with Governor Pramono Anung, Adji also confirmed that the agency has prepared its budget in case BNPB needs to carry out its weather modification operation.

In response to flooding in several regions in Jakarta, Governor Pramono Anung instructed the province's Water Resources Office to optimize river dredging operations.

"I have decided to make river dredging operations in Jakarta’s suburbs the current priority," he said on Monday.

The provincial authority has also deployed 605 water pumps at 202 stationary pump points throughout Jakarta, along with 100 mobile pump vehicles for the city’s five regions.

The Jakarta BPBD recorded that 141 neighborhoods in West, East, Central, and South Jakarta were flooded as of Monday at 6 a.m. local time following heavy rainfall on Sunday (July 6). However, by 2 p.m. local time, the floodwaters had receded in all but two localities.

sumber : Antara