Bandung sees first rain in months<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): Drizzle fell on the city on Thursday, the first
\nrain seen in the area for months, when the government
\nexperimented with cloud seeding to induce rain.<\/p>\n
The rain fell on the city only briefly, for about 15 minutes.
\nBut the shower, also the result of efforts to artificially create
\nrain, lasted longer in the Nagrek area just outside the city.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta-based Agency for the Research and Application of
\nTechnology (BPPT) is launching its drive to induce rain in Java,
\nwhich has suffered the brunt of the severe drought.<\/p>\n
Water shortage has developed in many parts of the island, in
\nWest Java, Central Java and East Java, and thousands of hectares
\nof rice crops are declared a total failure each day as the
\ndrought continues to take its toll.<\/p>\n
This year's drought in Java came earlier than anticipated and
\ncaught many people unawares.<\/p>\n
In West Java, BPPT works in cooperation with the state-owned
\nJatiluhur Authority which manages the Jatiluhur Dam, the source
\nof water for a huge network of irrigation in the province,
\nincluding the country's \"rice bowls\" such as Indramayu and
\nCirebon.<\/p>\n
The agency also plans to conduct a similar operation in
\nCentral Java and East Java in the course of the next two weeks.<\/p>\n
\"The result is very encouraging,\" Muhammad Ulama, president of
\nthe Jatiluhur Authority, was quoted by the Antara news agency as
\nsaying. \"This could help us overcome the drought.\"<\/p>\n
Cloud seeding<\/p>\n
BPPT used two Casa 212 planes, leased from private air
\noperator Gatari, to seed the clouds by spraying finely ground
\nsalt.<\/p>\n
In the first round of operation, the two planes left from the
\nHusein Sastranegara airport and sprayed its 3.6 tons load of salt
\non clouds above the upstream of Cimanuk and Citanduy rivers.<\/p>\n
Mimin Karmini, the BPPT official heading the operation, said
\nthe full effect of the operation would not be known until 24
\nhours later. There were good signs as drizzle fell on Bandung for
\nabout 15 minutes yesterday a few hours after the operation.<\/p>\n
Mimin said the two rivers together irrigate 60,000 hectares of
\nrice fields in Indramayu, 40,000 hectare in Ciamis and Cilacap
\nand 50,000 hectares in Cirebon.<\/p>\n
The two rivers also flow to the Jatiluhur dam.<\/p>\n
The second operation, conducted a little later, in the Nagrek
\narea near the top of Mt. Ciremai was more successful because rain
\nfell immediately in the area and lasted longer.<\/p>\n
It helped that there was a thick cloud in the area at the
\ntime, according to Ulama.<\/p>\n
The second operation is intended to create rain along the
\nCimanuk river which is part of the Rentang irrigation network.<\/p>\n
Ulama said the entire operation cost around Rp 250 million,
\nwith some 60 to 70 percent of it going towards fuel costs.<\/p>\n
Ulama said the Jatiluhur dam still has plenty of water but
\nmany of the rivers which are part of the irrigation network have
\ndried up.<\/p>\n
A similar operation was conducted last year and helped raise
\nthe water content by as much as 106 million cubic meters in the
\nJatiluhur dam, and 397 million cubic meters in the Cirata dam,
\nboth in West Java. (pet\/emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bandung-sees-first-rain-in-months-1447893297",
"image": ""
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