Air quality in several parts of Peninsular Malaysia has reached unhealthy levels.
According to the hourly readings on the Department of Environment’s Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS) website, as of 9am today eight locations recorded unhealthy API levels, with Alor Gajah, Melaka being the worst affected at 160.
Other affected areas include Temerloh, Pahang (156); Banting, Selangor (155); Nilai, Negeri Sembilan (155); Kemaman, Terengganu (153); Johan Setia, Selangor (152); Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (151); and Putrajaya (124).
Meanwhile, 57 areas recorded moderate air quality.
API readings are classified as follows: 0–50 (good), 51–100 (moderate), 101–200 (unhealthy), 201–300 (very unhealthy), and above 300 (hazardous).
According to Reuters, Indonesia has started cloud seeding operations in Riau province today to combat escalating forest and land fires that have caused haze to drift into parts of Malaysia. A spokesman for Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency said the operation will continue for at least seven days.
Data from Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency showed 1,208 fire hotspots across Sumatra as of Sunday, with 586 in Riau alone. Indonesian broadcaster Metro TV reported that haze from these fires has already reached parts of Malaysia.
Malaysia’s Department of Environment director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaafar said yesterday that the deterioration in air quality in the west coast region over the past 24 hours was due to the movement of smoke and haze from neighboring countries.
“No large-scale fires have been detected in the country,” he added.
