Jakarta (ANTARA) - The use of weather modification technology produced artificial rain in Riau in a bid to tackle forest and land fires.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) successfully applied cloud seeding technology to artificially tweak rain in the Riau region.

"Hercules C-130 dropped 3.4 tons of NaCl salt for cloud seeding in Dumai City, Rokan Hilir District, and Padang Sidempuan City on Wednesday (September 18)," Acting Head of Data Information and Public Relations Center of the BNPB Agus Wibowo remarked during a press release received in Jakarta on Thursday.

Wibowo confirmed that the operation was conducted by the hygroscopic seeding of deeper clouds that can potentially produce rain.

The weather modification technology induced artificial precipitation in Batu Teritip Village near Rokan Hilir District.

"Rain of moderate intensity fell for around 30 minutes," he stated.

Apart from Riau, weather modification technology operations are still being conducted in the Central Kalimantan region.

CN295 aircraft sowed 1,500 kilograms of NaCl salt on Wednesday (September 18) from 13:30 to 15:45 local time in Katingan District, North Palangkaraya City, and Kapuas District at an altitude of eight thousand feet.

Agus stated that the weather modification technology will continue to be applied in Sumatra and Kalimantan by deploying three TNI aircraft: two in Pekanbaru, Riau; and one in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan. Related news: BPPT readies to conduct cloud seeding in West Kalimantan
Related news: BNPB, BPPT to conduct cloud seeding in 3 provinces


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Translator: Dewanto S/ Azis Kurmala
Editor: Suharto
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