DKI Provincial Government Modified Weather To Minimize Rain On New Year's Eve

The HI Roundabout area, one of the centers of New Year's celebrations in Jakarta/DOC/ANTARA PHOTO/M Risyal Hidayat/rwa.

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has again carried out weather modification operations until the last day of 2024. This third phase of OMC will take place from December 24 to 31, 2024.

The Head of the DKI Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Isnawa Adji said that the periodic weather modifications that had been carried out since last month were carried out to minimize the impact of flooding due to rain at the turn of the year, including suppressing heavy rains during the 2025 New Year's Eve celebrations.

"This operation is a strategic step to ensure the safety of the community and smooth activities during the holidays," Isnawa said on Tuesday, December 31.

Each OMC is run, on average, two flights are carried out using the Britten Norman aircraft operated by Pilot Captain Dio of PT. SAI.

Each flight carries 800 kg of sodium chloride (NaCl) which is spread at an altitude of between 8,000 and 10,000 feet. This process aims to reduce the intensity of rain in the Jakarta area and its surroundings.

Previously, the DKI Provincial Government had held OMC on December 7-9 and December 12-15, 2024. The budget disbursed for the two OMC stages was IDR 3.6 billion.

The two OMC stages that have been implemented previously show positive results, with a reduction in the intensity of rain reaching 20 percent.

"Through this weather modification operation, it is hoped that the distribution of rain can be more lamentable and not concentrated in disaster-prone areas," said Isnawa.

Acting (Pj) Governor of DKI Jakarta Teguh Setyabudi previously ensured that the DKI Provincial Government would resume weather modification operations in order to reduce the high rainfall in Jakarta during the change.

This is because the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has issued extreme weather early warnings at the end of 2024 and early 2025. Jakarta is predicted to experience another major flood that usually hits once every five years.

The last five-year flood occurred in early 2020, where the rainfall at that time reached 377 mm per day or three times greater than the capacity of the drainage system in Jakarta.

"The head of BMKG has warned us that all extreme weather has occurred in various parts of Indonesia, including in DKI Jakarta. It is a special flood problem, this is what Jakarta is facing," said Teguh at DKI Jakarta City Hall, Monday, December 23.