Flood in Jakarta (Source: Antara) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia has spent around 20 billion rupiah (1.43 million USD) on a weather modification programme since the beginningof 2020 in order to deal with serious floods in Jakarta.
Tri Handoko Seto, Head of the WeatherModification Technology Unit (BBTMC) under the Assessment and Application ofTechnology Agency (BPPT), said that the funds in conductingcloud seeding are sourced from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
The costs are distributed to a number ofexpenses such as costs to operate the Indonesian National Armed Forces’airforce and BPPT airplanes, fuel, and NaCl salt for the cloud seeding, hestated.
The official duration for BPPT’s cloudseeding operation started in January and ended on March 1. However, the agencysaid they are experimenting with alternatives other than cloud seeding such asusing flares that do not force clouds to drop its moisture but to eliminate theclouds' formation.
Low-lying Jakarta is prone to floodingduring the wet season which starts around November. Torrential rain in Januarytriggered flooding and landslides that claimed nearly 70 lives in and aroundJakarta while thousands more were forced to evacuate to shelters./.
VNA
