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BPPT to intercept rainfall to help control Greater Jakarta flooding
The national tech agency is looking to weather modification to assist with flood management amid the heavy rain forecast through early next week.
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Children play as a motorcyclist and his passenger brave the floodwaters on Jan. 1 in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
T
he Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) plans to use weather modification technology (WMT) in an attempt to divert rain clouds from Greater Jakarta to prevent additional flooding.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Agus Wibowo said in a statement on Thursday that the BPPT would use WMT to accelerate the process of rainfall so the rain would fall before the clouds reached the capital and surrounding areas.
“The BPPT plans to cause the rain to fall in the Sunda Strait or Lampung, but if the wind blows to the east, the rainfall will be [directed to] dams such as Jatiluhur and Jatigede,” Agus said .
He added that the BPPT, along with the BNPB and the Indonesian Military (TNI), would deploy two types of aircraft for the weather modification mission.
Meanwhile, Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), warned that heavy rainfall was forecast for Greater Jakarta through next Tuesday, and that the potential for extreme weather was expected across Indonesia until mid-February.
“There is a potential for heavy rainfall in Greater Jakarta between Jan. 2 and 7,” she said on Thursday at a flood management coordination meeting at BNPB headquarters in East Jakarta, adding that heavy rainfall was also expected in central Sumatra, Java and southern Borneo, as well as the South and Southeast parts of Sulawesi. (kmt)
