Persisting forest and land fires in regencies across Riau have led to deteriorating air quality, bringing the pollution rate to a dangerous level in the province’s northern areas on Wednesday.
The province’s Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) reported that air pollution standards index (ISPU) equipment indicated that air quality had reached an alarming level of 300 on the pollutant standards index (PSI) Wednesday morning.
Thick haze blanketed Bengkalis regency in the morning, creating smog that reduced visibility at the Bengkalis seaport to less than 1 kilometer.
The haze was said to have been caused by land fires on Padang Island in the Meranti Islands regency, sent southward by winds at a speed of between 9 and 39 km per hour.
Antara news agency said that port authorities declared an alert status due to the conditions.
Air pollution, however, improved later in the day, with air quality recorded at 84 PSI, or medium level.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said that Terra and Aqua satellites had detected 86 hot spots in a number of regions in Riau on Wednesday.
“Data from 7 a.m. on March 4 shows that the 86 detected hot spots are among 96 hot spots across Sumatra,” head of the BMKG’s Pekanbaru office, Sugarin, said.
Of the 86 hot spots, 55 were indicated to be fires, with a reliability of 70 percent.
The Riau provincial administration has declared an emergency status for forest fires in Riau, where slash-and-burn agriculture practices are believed to be the culprit behind the annual disaster.
Between January and March this year, no less than 379 hectares were affected by fires, according to data from the Riau Emergency command post.
Most of the hot spots were detected in the northern part of the province. A total of 36 hot spots were recorded in Bengkalis, 16 in the Meranti Islands, 12 in Pelalawan regency, eight in Siak regency, six in Rokan Hilir, three in Kota Dumai, two each in Rokan Hulu and Kampar and one in Indragiri Hilir regency.
Since Tuesday, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) has created artificial rain south of Bengkalis and north of Siak regencies. The operation will be focused on the eastern coast of the province over the next few days, especially in peat areas in Bengkalis, Siak, Pelalawan and Dumai regencies.
The cloud-seeding method has been chosen to help solve the difficulty of reaching the locations of the fires.
The Riau administration has created an action plan for forest and land fire mitigation and prevention, which is aimed at freeing the province from the disasters that have been taking place for the past 17 years.
The action plan includes the designation of peatland as a protected area, canal blocking to maintain the wetness of peat, document evaluation and environmental licensing for plantation and forestry companies to prevent and mitigate forest and land fires, law enforcement against companies disobeying audits and the establishment and provision of incentives for fire-aware communities in fire-prone areas.
In Jakarta, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has asked all parties to remain alert.
The minister said that according to the BMKG, Indonesia would be influenced by weak El Nino weather patterns until June, resulting in lower intensity and frequency of rain. Among the prioritized fire prevention and mitigation provinces are Jambi, Riau, South Sumatra, West and Central Kalimantan.
