Haze: Unhealthy air quality detected in five areas nationwide

The Star

Five areas nationwide have recorded unhealthy air pollutant index (API) readings, said the Environment Department on Sunday (July 20).  Indonesian authorities said smoke from forest and peatland fires in several parts of Sumatra Island was blown to Malaysia over the past two days.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/y9bcx5xt  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Smoke from forest and peatland fires in parts of Indonesia's Sumatra Island

00:06was blown to Malaysia over the past two days.

00:09Reports quoted the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency

00:14as saying the haze was detected moving northeastward

00:17and reaching Telok Kermang in Negeri Sembilan.

00:21Several areas in the Riau province were still covered by thick haze on Sunday.

00:25Authorities said more than 140 forest and peatland fires

00:29were reported in the province,

00:31with Rokan-Hilir and Rokan-Hulu districts being the worst-hit areas

00:35where about 46 hectares were burned.

00:39The figure was down from 294 hotspots on Saturday

00:42after the fire in several places were extinguished.

00:46In Malaysia, as of 3 p.m. on Sunday,

00:49the Environment Department said five areas recorded unhealthy air pollutant index readings

00:54with Putrajaya at 139,

00:57Banting and Johan Setia in Selangor at 154,

01:01and Nilay in Negeri Sembilan at 162.

01:04The department said the worsening air quality was due to transboundary haze,

01:09and the National Open Burning Action Plan

01:11and National Haze Action Plan had been activated to address the situation.

01:16They said all outdoor classroom activities will be halted once the API reading exceeds 100,

01:23and schools, kindergarten and daycare centres will be closed once the reading exceeds 200.

01:29They said cloud seeding will be carried out in the worst-hit areas.

01:34The Fire and Rescue Department said incidences of forest and bush fires were reported in parts of Malaysia,

01:40but the situation was under control.

01:43They said the latest forest fires happened in Bukit Kajang Prima and Bukit Jalil,

01:48but firefighters had acted swiftly to prevent the blaze from spreading.

01:52So far this year, a total of 7,223 fire cases were recorded nationwide,

01:59involving forest fires and open burning of waste.

02:02The fire and Rescue Department said incidences of forest fires were recorded nationwide,

02:02and the fire and Rescue Department said incidences of forest fires were recorded nationwide.

02:10The fire and Rescue Department said incidences of forest fires were recorded nationwide,

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