BNPB reports improvement in air quality in Pekanbaru

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has reported that Pekanbaru, Riau Province, is experiencing an improvement in air quality, with visibility now exceeding 9 kilometres, despite the presence of four remaining hotspots.

The Acting Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Centre, Berton SP Panjaitan, stated that residents in the area can continue their activities as usual and face-to-face learning remains in progress.

Furthermore, he noted that the BNPB, alongside relevant parties, continues to conduct firefighting operations. This includes ground task forces working to extinguish hotspots in the Indragiri Hilir, Indragiri Hulu, Pelalawan, Siak, and Bengkalis regencies, as well as aerial task forces monitoring hotspots using two helicopters.

This aerial task force, he added, is also responsible for monitoring wind direction and conducting water bombing operations, with a total of 516,000 litres of water distributed across five sorties.

Consequently, Berton reported that as of 31 August, the area of hotspots successfully extinguished in Riau Province via ground task forces was approximately 126.65 hectares, while aerial task forces extinguished approximately 8.8 hectares.

He added that his agency is unable to conduct Weather Modification Operations (OMC) in Riau Province due to a lack of cloud potential suitable for seeding.