Pekanbaru, Riau, (Antarariau.com) - A Cassa 212 airplane belonging to the Technology Assessment and Application Agency (BPPT) began spraying salt to make rain in Sumatra s Riau province on Monday to overcome forest and land fires in the region.
"The Cassa airplane has a capacity of carrying up to 1.2 tons of salt," Head of the Rainmaking Technical Implementation Unit of the BPPT Heru Widodo told Antara.
He added that the plane began its weather modification operation immediately upon arrival at the local Roesmin Nurjadin air force base on Monday.
"The airplane s route covered fire-prone areas, especially those where potential clouds were available to make rain," Widodo explained.
He stated that the BPPT plans to deploy two planes, Cassa 212 and CN 295, belonging to the military (TNI) for this purpose.
"We have sent a letter to the TNI commander requesting to borrow its aircraft. We are now awaiting a reply," he noted, adding that the provincial administration of Riau has already imposed a fire emergency status.
Furthermore, according to Head of the Pekanbaru station of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency Sugarin, monitoring operations of the Terra and Aqua satellite at 7 a.m. on Monday found 29 hotspots, and with accuracy rates of over 70 percent, 15 fires are believed to have taken place.
Pelalawan district was found to have 11 hotspots, the largest number found in a region, followed by nine hotspots in Bengkalis, three in Kepulauan Meranti and Rokan Hulu, two in Dumai city, and one in Siak.
"So far, the Index of the Air Pollution Standard reading shows that the air quality is still good," Sugarin affirmed.
Moreover, acting governor of Riau Andi Rachman pointed out that the weather modification operations would be carried out for 30 days this month.
He added that 25 tons of salt leftover from operations last year were still available at the Fire Emergency Command Post at the Roesmin Nurjadi air force base.
"So a total of 68 tons of salt is available to support the operations, and I think it will suffice for a month s operation," he noted.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has provided some Rp16 billion of the total Rp25 billion budget for the firefighting operation.
BPPT Stars Rainmaking Operations To Fight Forest Fires
