Despite the declining intensity of smoke in some parts of Sumatra over the past two days, the overall air quality on the island has remained at alarming levels, putting residents and local authorities on constant alert regarding the impact of thick haze on health and transportation safety.

In West Sumatra, a Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station in Bukit Kototabang, Agam regency, reported on Monday that some regions in the province recorded the air quality at the '€œmoderate'€ or '€œhealthy'€ level.

Thick haze that brought down the air quality in Agam to the '€œdangerous'€ level on Saturday, for example, subsided on Monday following rain that poured over the area on the weekend.

The same downpour, however, only managed to briefly reduce the intensity of haze that blanketed the provincial capital of Padang, located 100 kilometers southeast of Agam. After rain subdued the haze on Sunday night, the smoke thickened again on Monday morning.

'€œWith the current level of rain intensity, West Sumatra will not see haze disappearing as long as it keeps coming from the neighboring South Sumatra, Jambi and Riau provinces,'€ GAW head Edison Kurniawan said on Monday.

Apart from West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan are among the provinces hardest hit by the air pollution originating from fires in peatland and plantations. The ongoing haze crisis has also been exacerbated with this year'€™s prolonged dry season that has been triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, the local Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) station reported that 139 hotspots had been detected in the province on Monday morning, an increase from only 20 spotted a day earlier. The figure accounted for almost half of the total 284 hotspots detected across Sumatra.

BMKG officer Aristya Ardhitama attributed the surge in the number of hotspots to returning fires in peatland.

'€œThe only way to completely put out fires in peatland is by submerging it in water. That'€™s why heavy equipment will be needed to build canals to engulf fire-prone peatland,'€ Aristya said.

Despite the increase in the number of hotspots, Riau has also seen the air quality in some regions improve from '€œdangerous'€ to '€œunhealthy'€, the BMKG reported.

Responding to the fluctuating haze intensity, Pekanbaru Education Agency head Zulfadil said his office had decided to extend its earlier policy to close local schools, which was supposed to be lifted on Monday.

'€œAfter coordinating with officials from the Riau Education Agency, we have decided to extend the policy until the Riau provincial administration lifts its current haze emergency status,'€ Zulfadil said.

The Riau Transportation Agency recently reported that more than 600 flights from and to Pekanbaru'€™s Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport were delayed or canceled during recent weeks due to poor visibility.

In North Sumatra, Nias search and rescue (SAR) station coordinator Torang M. Hutahaean said thick haze that had blanketed Nias waters for the past three days had caused many local fishermen to become lost in the middle of the sea.

In Central Java, some 100 hikers were reportedly trapped on Mount Slamet as fires caught alight in a forest on the slopes of the 3,428-meter-high volcano. '€œMilitary and SAR personnel have been deployed to make sure that all climbers can be rescued,'€ Purbalingga Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Priyo Satmoko said.

Apriadi Gunawan in Medan and Agus Maryono in Purbalingga contributed to this article.

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