Pontianak, West Kalimantan, MINA — The Terra and Aqua satellites detected a total of 801 hotspots, indicating forest and plantation fires, across Indonesia, on Monday.
The hotspots were of moderate- and high-risk categories, Antara News reported, citing Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB),in a statement.
In West Kalimantan Province, 272 hotspots were detected.
“Of the 272 hotspots, 149 are categorized as moderate and 123 as high risk,” he stated.
Also Read: Gen Z in the US Pro-Palestinian Struggle and Anti-Israel
Haze shrouded Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan Province, from dawn until 7:30 a.m. local time on Monday and later disappeared due to the wind.
Earlier, Ins. Gen. Didi Haryono, the West Kalimantan police chief, urged local inhabitants to help put out wildfires as the efforts could not be made by the military and police personnel alone.
Banjarmasin, the provincial capital of South Kalimantan, and North Barito in Central Kalimantan were also shrouded by haze on Monday morning.
The ongoing prolonged drought has caused water shortage in several regions, such as in the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Java, and triggered fires in forest areas, particularly in West Kalimantan and Central Java.
Also Read: Ministry of Communication Urged to Block LGBT+ Features on Google Chrome
In West Kalimantan, schools were recently closed, as forest fires produced smoke that could affect the health of students.
The national disaster mitigation office deployed four helicopters to help extinguish the fires.
Meanwhile, through legal enforcement and firm control, the Indonesian government has managed to reduce forest fires by 96.5 percent across the country during the 2015-2017 period.
Based on data obtained from NOAA`s satellites, 21,929 hotspots were found across Indonesia in 2015, and the figure dropped to 3,915 in 2016, and again 2,257 in 2017, according to Raffles B. Panjaitan, director of forest and plantation fire control of the environmental affairs and forestry ministry.
Also Read: Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Library Develop Mosque Libraries
The wild fires had razed a total of 2,611,411 hectares in 2015, and the figure decreased to 438,360
hectares in 2016 and again to 165,464 hectares in 2017. (T/RS5/RS1)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
Also Read: Welcoming Ramadan, Muslim Life Fair 2025 Officially Opens in Bekasi
Mina Indonesia
Mina Arabic
Mina Sport