JAKARTA - The government is moving quickly to deal with forest and land fires (karhutla) which are increasingly widespread in a number of provinces on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) will carry out weather modifications to accelerate the rain in affected locations.
Minister of Environment Hanif Faisol Nurofiq explained that this weather modification technology aims to accelerate the formation of rain clouds so that they can extinguish hotspots spread across various regions.
He explained that if the peatlands had been dried, they would not be able to absorb water anymore. Two to three days of heat has the potential to catch fire.
"However, technically, the land will not be burned if it is not burned, so it must be guarded," said Hanif, Tuesday, August 5.
Hanif added that currently his party together with BMKG and BNPB have identified seven potential points of cloud that can be used for artificial rain operations. This step is a permanent handling through weather modification operations, especially ahead of the rainy season," he said.
This step was also taken to reduce the bad impact of smog on public health. According to Hanif, the air quality in a number of areas affected by forest and land fires has entered a dangerous level.
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"We will continue to carry out the weather modification until the situation is handled. If natural rain begins, it will just be arranged again for potential clouds," continued Hanif.
Previously, the BMKG issued an early warning regarding the potential for extreme weather and increased risk of forest and land fires in various parts of Indonesia, especially for the period 1-11 August 2025. Based on satellite monitoring as of August 1, BMKG detected 33 hotspots with high confidence levels, the majority spread across the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra.
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