JAKARTA, Aug 26 — Indonesia has ramped up firefighting operations in Kalimantan and Sumatera as forest and land fires continued to rage, burning an estimated 74,870 hectares across six priority provinces.
The National Disaster Management Agency's Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre acting head Berton Panjaitan said the aerial operations involved 52 helicopters, which dropped more than four million litres of water on fire-affected areas.
“We recorded today that 4.6 million litres of water had been lifted and dropped on fire spots through several sorties in the six priority provinces,” he told an online media conference today.
Approximately 7,334 hotspots were recorded in six provinces on Tuesday, with West Kalimantan accounting for the highest number at 2,610, followed by Central Kalimantan with 2,110, and South Sumatra with 1,438.
West Kalimantan also had the largest indicative burned area at 38,311 hectares, followed by Riau (16,440 hectares), South Kalimantan (9,605 hectares), Central Kalimantan (7,634 hectares), South Sumatra (1,926 hectares), and Jambi (954 hectares).
The ongoing forest and land fires have sharply deteriorated air quality, with the Air Pollutant Index in parts of Central Kalimantan reaching 573 early today, a level classified as hazardous.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry's Health Crisis Centre head Agus Jamaludin said about 3.4 million people have been affected by the fires across seven provinces: Riau, Jambi, and South Sumatra on Sumatra, as well as West, Central, East, and South Kalimantan.
The fires have also raised serious concern in neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, as transboundary haze has worsened air quality in parts of the southern ASEAN region.
