There Is A Material Buildup Remaining From The Marapi Eruption, The Governor Of West Sumatra Asks To Be Aware Of The Potential For Susulant Disasters

West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi. (ANTARA/HO-Biro Adpim West Sumatra)

West Sumatra Governor (West Sumatra) Mahyeldi reminded people who live around the river basins that originate from Mount Marapi to remain aware of the potential for further disasters because the intensity of rain is still high.

"Based on drone monitoring, the Sumatra V River Basin Center still has a buildup of large amounts of eruptive material on the slopes of Mount Marapi. When the intensity of the rain is high, the material can cause further disasters," Mahyeldi said in Padang as reported by ANTARA, Friday, May 17.

To address this, he said, the government through the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) are trying to mitigate this potential. One of them is by making weather modifications.

"We hope that this weather modification will succeed in suppressing the potential for further disasters," said the West Sumatra Governor.

Head of the UPTD PSDA for the North Region of West Sumatra, Hendry Yuliandra, said that the remaining material for the eruption was about three kilometers above a residential area in Jorong Pagu-Pagu, Kenagarian Pandai Sikek, X Koto District, Tanah Datar Regency.

"Cleaning cannot be done because our heavy equipment cannot go up, the weather is sharp," said Hendry Yuliandra.

He said the route is upstream from the river which leads to Batang Anai. With that, the potential for flash floods through the Anai Valley can happen again.

"This estuary is also Batang Anai, if the material is doused with heavy rain, it can trigger flash floods again," he said.

Previously, to mitigate this potential, BMKG and BNPB used Weather Modification Technology (TMC) in the West Sumatra sky area to sow rain clouds before entering the disaster area.

A total of 15 tons of salt are prepared to be sprinkled three times of flights in one day and take place in the next few days.

The TMC operation is a way of modifying the weather by sowing NaCl substances in the sky using an airplane and is considered effective in controlling the potential of rain clouds.