Pekanbaru Blanketed by Haze, Air Quality Hazardous

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, has reported that thick haze is blanketing the city of Pekanbaru.

According to BMKG Pekanbaru Station forecaster Ranti Kurniati on Tuesday (25/8), visibility in Pekanbaru is around two kilometres, with air quality hazardous to health.

She said the visibility figure was based on data updates since Monday (24/8) at 16.00 WIB.

Ranti explained that due to the haze, air quality in Pekanbaru based on PM2.5 has reached hazardous levels since the early hours of Tuesday. The figure briefly hit 508.8 micrograms per cubic metre at 01.00 WIB.

Meanwhile, the number of hotspots in Sumatra on Monday (24/8) was recorded at 2,193. The highest number was in South Sumatra with 1,207 hotspots, followed by Riau Province with 393.

The remainder were in Jambi (262), Lampung (138), Bangka Belitung (77), Riau Islands (57), Bengkulu (19), North Sumatra (18), West Sumatra (13), and Aceh (9).

In Riau Province, the most hotspots were in Pelalawan Regency with 153, followed by Indragiri Hilir Regency (140). The rest were in Bengkalis (32), Indragiri Hulu (26), Kampar (12), Siak (6), Rokan Hulu (6), Meranti Islands (3), Pekanbaru City (3), and Kuantan Singingi (1).

Land fires are still occurring in Riau Province, with the largest in Pelalawan Regency covering 700 hectares. This is followed by Indragiri Hulu with 471 hectares, and Indragiri Hilir and Kampar with tens of hectares each.