Palace Claims OMC Continues to Combat Forest Fires, Including Dry Ice

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The government continues to implement various efforts to combat forest and land fires (karhutla).

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi stated that these efforts include weather modification operations (OMC) and the use of dry ice.

"OMC is continuously conducted, including with the new dry ice method," Prasetyo told reporters on Tuesday (20/10/2026).

He explained that OMC with dry ice is used to break up smoke, allowing sunlight to penetrate, which can help initiate rain cloud formation.

"We just bombarded the area with IMC NaCl, and thankfully in several districts, rain has started to fall," Prasetyo added.

He also shared data on the management of karhutla via OMC as of October 20 at 06:00 WIB.

In South Sumatra, eight sorties have been conducted with a total of 1,600 kg of NaCl and 4,000 kg of dry ice since October 16.

Regarding the management of karhutla in South Sumatra, OMC with dry ice has also received support from the Lampung Post, to anticipate any visibility issues in Palembang.

"The Lampung Post operated dry ice from October 15 to 18, conducting six sorties with 4,800 kg of dry ice. Positive results were observed in South Sumatra, with a decrease in PM 2.5 levels and improved visibility," he stated.

In Central Kalimantan, since August 26, the government has conducted 48 sorties with 43,800 kg of NaCl.

The rainfall volume generated during this operation reached 67.45 million cubic meters.

Efforts in Central Kalimantan also received assistance from the South Kalimantan Post on October 18, conducting two sorties with 800 kg of dry ice and 800 kg of NaCl.

This assistance was necessary due to visibility challenges in Central Kalimantan.

"Based on field reports and AWS/ARG measurements, rain has been recorded in the districts of Kotawaringin Timur, Kotawaringin Barat, Seruyan, Kapuas, Gunung Mas, and Barito Timur," Prasetyo revealed.

In South Kalimantan, since October 10, 2026, a total of 23 sorties have been conducted with 23,000 kg of NaCl.

During the firefighting process, the South Kalimantan Post utilized two aircraft units.

"The total volume of rainfall generated has reached 222.67 million cubic meters during the OMC operations. Reports of rain have been received from the regions of Tabalong, Tapin, and Barito Kuala (South Kalimantan)," he added.

In West Kalimantan, since August 22, 107 sorties have been conducted using 98,800 kg of NaCl.

During this period, the volume of rainfall obtained reached 471.2 million cubic meters.

"As of October 19, 2026, rain was reported in Sanggau, Kubu Raya, Sambas, Landak, Kayong Utara, Pontianak, Bengkayang, Kapuas Hulu, Singkawang, and Ketapang districts," he concluded.