BNPB Holds Weather Modification Operation In Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra

JAKARTA - The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) is supported by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) to start a weather modification operation (OMC) in Aceh, North Sumatra (North Sumatra), and West Sumatra (West Sumatra).

Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center Abdul Muhari said that the implementation of OMC was a form of response to the increased risk of hydrometeorological disasters, namely floods and landslides, which are currently being faced by the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

"This operation across ministries and institutions serves as support for mitigation and emergency handling with the main aim of reducing the potential for rainfall in disaster-prone areas through engineering the transfer of rain clouds to safer areas," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, November 28.

Muhari said that in Aceh, OMC officially started on Friday using PK-SNP aircraft from the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport Command Post.

Meanwhile, in North Sumatra, operations began earlier on Thursday (27/11) from the Kualanamu Airport Command Post, where to date four flight sorties have been completed with a total of 3,200 kilograms of Sodium Choride (NaCl) and Calcium Oksida (CaO) material.

The operation in West Sumatra is scheduled to start operating tomorrow, Saturday (29/11), by deploying PK-DPI and PK-SNK aircraft from the Minangkabau International Airport Command Post.

Next, Muhari said the weather modification intervention was crucial, given the latest emergency conditions, namely the intensity of extreme rain that has triggered flooding to spread in the Aceh region, increasing the threat of landslides and flash floods in most parts of North Sumatra and causing serious impact on infrastructure and settlements in West Sumatra.

He also said that BNPB is always committed to supporting disaster risk mitigation efforts to maintain the safety of the people in the three provinces, according to the direction of President Prabowo Subianto.

Previously, BNPB provided call center services for communities affected by floods and landslides in a number of areas on the island of Sumatra, as an effort to accelerate the collection of reports and emergency needs in the field.

The service is confirmed that BNPB can be accessed through the number 0811-6164-5500 with a report delivery mechanism via text message or WhatsApp (WA) online messaging application.