After Meeting Prabowo, BMKG Says Indonesia Has Entered Strong El Niño Phenomenon

The Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Teuku Faisal Fathani, stated that Indonesia has now entered a strong El Niño phenomenon. He explained that El Niño occurs when sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean rise by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius. “Currently, the condition has entered a strong El Niño,” Teuku said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday (28/7). He outlined that BMKG’s focus in facing El Niño is broadly divided into two areas: ensuring water availability in reservoirs and anticipating forest and land fires. He noted that six provinces are the primary focus, namely Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan. “The filling of reservoirs with weather modification and other methods is also to anticipate forest and land fires through weather modification,” he said. He added that some of the 240 reservoirs spread across Indonesia will be utilised for hydroelectric power plants, irrigation, and clean water supply. On the same day, President Prabowo Subianto held a limited meeting with several ministers to discuss anticipatory measures for the El Niño phenomenon coinciding with the dry season.