Jakarta, Dec. 29 -- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has ordered the country's meteorology agency to step up weather modification operations, deploying additional aircraft, equipment and materials to reduce disaster risks as heavy rains intensify across the archipelago, a senior official said on Monday.

"The BMKG is continuing weather modification operations, and the president has instructed that the necessary tools and equipment be added," State Secretariat Minister Prasetyo Hadi told reporters at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta, referring to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.

Hadi, speaking at a briefing on post-disaster strategies for Sumatra, said the expansion of cloud-seeding and other weather modific...