Helicopters yesterday water-bombed raging forest fires that have cloaked parts of Indonesia in thick haze and pushed air quality to unhealthy levels in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.
Fourteen helicopters were dumping water on blazes on western Sumatra island and the Indonesian part of Borneo island and “cloud-seeding,” which involves using chemicals to induce rain, the country’s disaster agency said. Authorities had struggled last week to start such operations as the haze was so thick that it was too dangerous for aircraft to fly.
Smog-belching fires are an annual problem during the dry season in Indonesia, where vast tracts of land are cleared using illegal slash-and-burn methods to make way for huge palm oil and pulp and paper plantations.
The blazes intensified in the past fortnight, sending smog over Sumatra and Borneo that has left tens of thousands ill, forced people to wear face masks and prompted the cancelation of flights and school closures.
Air quality has deteriorated in the city-state of Singapore and Malaysia in recent days, as wind carries the smog from Indonesia.
Smog continued to shroud Singapore yesterday, with air quality at unhealthy levels. Two outdoor races scheduled for Sunday were canceled, while organizers of the Formula One grand prix due to be held in the city-state reportedly said they are closely monitoring the haze in case it affects the event.
Haze levels have steadily been rising in Malaysia, with buildings more than 1km away in the capital Kuala Lumpur appearing as vague silhouettes.
Yesterday, 29 of Malaysia’s 52 air-quality monitoring stations tipped into the “unhealthy” range, disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
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