The Potency of Artificial Rain in Kalimantan

KOMPAS/SYAHNAN RANGKUTI

The condition of the air in Pekanbaru city, Riau, deteriorated on Saturday (7/9/2019), but residents were still engaging in activities as usual. Even in the yard of the Riau governor\'s office, a number of residents play soccer despite the blanket of smog.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Artificial rain through weather modification can serve as an alternative to suppress forest and peatland fires that are difficult to control.

With the potential of cloud seedlings in Kalimantan\'s airspace, weather modification technology can be potentially used in the island. The weather modification can be carried out by sprinkling salt from airplanes on cloud seeds to trigger rain. The rainfall is expected to extinguish land fires and clean up haze.

"In Kalimantan, the cloud seedlings just appeared yesterday. We have been on standby and ready," Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said in a joint press conference with the Environment and Forestry Ministry in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The weather modification had been carried out in Riau and South Sumatra recently. The director of the ministry’s forest and land fire control, Raffles Brotestes Panjaitan said, a total of 150 tons of salt had been spread out in the two regions.

"Well, now in Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan. We are about to begin because the clouds seem to be sufficient," he said. So far, according to Dwikorita, smoke from forest and land fires in Indonesian territory has so far not crossed the border into Peninsular Malaysia.

KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO

Fire engulfs bushes near an electricity transmission line beside the trans-Kalimantan road network between Palangkaraya city and Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan, on Monday (9/9/2019).

Based on observations of the Himawari-8 Satellite imagery and BMKG Geohotspot analysis, the smoke detected in Peninsular Malaysia on Sept. 5-7, 2019 originated from within the Malaysian region. The BMKG recorded a slight increase in the Peninsular Malaysia region, from 1,038 hot spots on Sept. 6 to 1,423 hot spots the following day.

"We appreciate that Malaysia has prepared artificial rain. It shows that they are aware that there are many hot spots in their own country, "Dwikorita said.

Flight interruptionsThe haze caused by forest and land fires on Tuesday has begun to disrupt flights at Syamsudin Noor Airport Banjarmasin in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan. On Tuesday morning, seven flights were delayed due to thick haze with visibility only 200 meters on the runway.

The head of South Kalimantan Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency, Wahyuddin, said the haze came from peatland fires around the airport. "There are four locations of peatland fires around the airport," he said.

Meanwhile, the government of Sintang regency, West Kalimantan, is extending school holidays due to the worsening of air quality. The local government also closes schools in Pekanbaru city, Riau.

Separately, the effort to prevent fires in Jambi has not been synergistic, making it difficult to stop the spread of the fire. "The fires should have been able to be stopped, but the efforts to prevent the fires have not yet taken place synergistically," Jambi’s provincial forestry task force commander Colonel Arh Elphis Rudi said during the discussion on prevention and control of forest and land fires in Jambi on Tuesday.

KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO

Smog caused by forest and peatland fires blankets Palangkaraya city, Central Kalimantan, on Tuesday (09/10/2019). In less than a week, the air quality in Palangkaraya city has been classified in the unhealthy category.

In Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan Governor Sugianto Sabran ordered a thorough investigation over allegations of irregularities in the construction of drilled wells in the province. The improper construction of the drilled wells has made efforts to stop peatland fires in the region ineffective.

Peatland fires and smoke were also detected at the planned location of the new capital city, namely in North Penajam Paser regency, East Kalimantan.

(JUM/ESA/RAM/SAH/ITA/JAL/CIP/IDO/ICH)