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Man-made rain starts pouring
The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) has finally created artificial rain in Riau after the plan was delayed by the late arrival of aircraft
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he Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) has finally created artificial rain in Riau after the plan was delayed by the late arrival of aircraft.
BPPT artificial rain technical unit head Heru Widodo said the maiden operation had successfully created artificial rain in the south of Bengkalis and north of Siak regencies.
'Based on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission, monitored by satellite, high intensity rain fell in the regions,' said Heru.
He added that the weather-modification operation for the time being relied on one Cassa 212 plane because the higher payload aircraft from the Indonesian Air Force had yet to arrive in Pekanbaru.
'Since it arrived at the Roesmin Nurjadin Airbase in Pekanbaru, the Cassa 212 has completed two sorties of cloud seeding, each time scattering 800 kilograms of salt,' Heru told The Jakarta Post in an interview on Tuesday morning.
'According to the plan, the same plane will carry out two more cloud-seeding sorties today, or at least once if time doesn't permit,' he added.
According to Heru, the operation will be focused on the eastern coast of Riau over the next few days, especially in peat areas in Bengkalis, Siak, Pelalawan and Dumai regencies, where many hot spots have been detected. The formation of cumulus clouds in the regions is considered to have the potential to produce rainfall.
Heru acknowledged that the artificial rain had yet to extinguish all land and forest fires in Riau. 'Riau is vast, but at least we are able to create artificial rain in some parts, as evident from the declining number of hot spots,' he said, adding that only five hot spots had been detected on Tuesday, declining from 15 on Monday.
He expressed hope that the weather conditions in coastal areas would help the artificial rain operation so the peatland, which is prone to fires, would be soaked and the spots, which have not been able to be reached by firefighting teams so far, could be extinguished by the artificial rain.
'The only determinant for successful weather modification is the presence of clouds. As long as there are clouds, we will continue to fly. We don't have logistical problems at all as we still have a stock of 24.2 tons of salt powder. If the amount is still inadequate, it would not be difficult to find as the BPPT produces it,' he said.
Separately, Bengkalis Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head M. Jalal admitted that the joint firefighting team had not yet been able to douse a number of hot spots because of the harsh geography and limited water supply.
Fires were found in the six villages of Tanjung Belit, Dompas and Sumber Jaya in Siak Kecil district and Pergam, Titik Akar and Sungai Empang in Rupat district.
'We hope the artificial rain will fall in the villages because the firefighting team, assisted by the police and local residents, are overwhelmed in dousing the fires,' said Jalal.
The Riau Police headquarters have currently named 15 people arson suspects. 'The motive is generally to clear land. The razed areas are between 1 and 5 hectares each,' said Riau Police chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Guntur Aryo.
Police will charge the suspects with violating Law No. 18/2004 on plantations, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of Rp 10 billion (US$830,000).
