Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Head Lieutenant General Suharyanto stated that his side will implement Weather Modification Technology (TMC) by producing artificial rain to overcome forest and land fires in South Kalimantan.
"We will coordinate with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). As seen from our observation, there is a potential to carry out TMC due to some clouds," he noted in Banjarbaru on Thursday.
He remarked that TMC had earlier been conducted in South Sumatra and had succeeded in bringing heavy rain for two days and extinguishing forest and land fires.
Hence, the TMC effort is now being shifted from South Sumatra to South Kalimantan, he remarked.
On Thursday, Suharyanto reviewed the situation of land and forest fires in South Kalimantan aboard a helicopter along with the South Kalimantan Regional Police Chief, Inspector General Pol Andi Rian Djajadi, Commander of Sjamsudin Noor Air Base Colonel Vincentius Endy, and Commander of the Military Resort Command (Korem) 101/Antasari Brigadier General Ari Aryanto.
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During aerial monitoring, Suharyanto observed the burning land in three areas: Banjarbaru City, Banjar District, and Tanah Laut District.
He noted that the fire was triggered by an increase in the number of hotspots since August 2023 due to drought.
Meanwhile, most of the land areas burned were dry rice fields or empty land. Hence, it eliminated the intentional burning motive except due to hot weather and negligence, he pointed out.
"Once it catches fire, it is difficult to extinguish because of the peat land. The optimal extinguishing effort is by air. Our ground task force is also putting their best effort," he remarked.
To this end, Suharyanto will deploy more water-bombing helicopters to extinguish forest and land fires in South Kalimantan, in addition to applying TMC.
After aerial monitoring, he immediately held a coordination meeting with the regional government and all stakeholders to coordinate efforts in extinguishing the land and forest fires.
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