TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has instructed the ministries/agencies to take several steps in response to the potential impacts of the drought coinciding with El Nino. This directive was delivered during a limited meeting at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
The Head of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Teuku Faisal Fathani, stated after the meeting that BMKG will strengthen its support in facing the drought season coinciding with El Nino this year. Faisal mentioned that this is to be achieved by ensuring water availability in reservoirs and conducting weather modification operations.
"Also, to anticipate forest and land fires through wetting the easily flammable areas via weather modification. Much of the discussion focused on weather modification," stated Faisal, as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat's press release.
Faisal explained that the weather modification operation will focus on six provinces. These areas are Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan. The operations will be carried out periodically to maintain the moisture of peatlands and prevent them from easily catching fire.
"Periodic weather modification operations will saturate the soil and peatlands, making them less susceptible to fire. We are also conducting weather modification in the Riau Archipelago and in Aceh, at specific locations depending on the situation and conditions," he said.
Faisal mentioned that weather modification efforts will also be utilized to help fill several reservoirs in various regions of Indonesia to anticipate drought. This effort will involve cross-ministerial/agency collaboration-for example, with the Ministry of Forestry and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB)-to ensure water availability for hydroelectric power plants, irrigation, and clean water needs.
"Filling the reservoirs in Indonesia, we have 240 reservoirs, not all of which are being filled to be used for hydroelectric power plants, irrigation, and clean water," he added.
Faisal further explained that these two steps are part of the government's strategy to prioritize prevention efforts against drought and forest fires. He stated that this approach is an improvement over the previous focus on firefighting after fires occurred.
"We are not just waiting for fire outbreaks and then extinguishing them with waterbombing, spraying extinguishers, and so on," Faisal stated.
Read: Prabowo Reviews Disaster Plans as El Nino Hits Earlier Than Expected
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