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Riau lifts emergency status for haze as hot spots extinguished
The haze started to dissipate on Sept. 24 after rain fell on several occasions, which also resulted in air quality improvement
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Firefighters battle a peatland fire in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, on Sept. 23, 2019. (AFP/Abdul Qodir)
The Riau administration has lifted the emergency status for haze as hot spots have finally decreased to zero.
Riau administration secretary Ahmadsyah Harrofie said the air pollution index (API) in several areas, including Pekanbaru, Siak, Kampar, Dumai, Rokan Hilir and Bengkalis, had improved to the “good” or “fair” level. The index previously showed that air quality was at a hazardous level.
“Sept. 30 data revealed that the hot spots no longer exist. Hence, we closed every evacuation post for haze victims on Tuesday,” Ahmadsyah said as quoted by tempo.co.
The Riau administration declared an emergency in the province on Sept. 23 and set up evacuation and medic posts for haze victims.
On Sept. 24, the haze started to dissipate after rain fell in the area on several occasions, which also resulted in air quality improvement. However, the alert status for peatland and forest fires in Riau will be kept in place until Oct. 31. (dpk)
