Jakarta – Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Firm (BMKG), on Tuesday, warned citizens in South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and East Nusa Tenggara of new wildfire risks.
For this reason, the company recommended that homeowners in the three provinces remain alert for the potential land and forest fires and restrain themselves from performing slash-and-burn strategies to clear land.
ANTARA reported earlier that the BMKG has predicted this year’s dry season to follow the exact same pattern as the one observed in 2019.
An overall of 28 percent of regions in Indonesia, which include 194 seasonal zones (ZOM) figured out by the BMKG, were forecast to experience the dry season from June this year.
According to BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati, the El Nino phenomenon, reinforced by the favorable phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), was forecasted to activate a drought throughout the dry season in Indonesia.
In view of the serious impact of the El Nino environment pattern on numerous regions in Indonesia, the National Catastrophe Mitigation Firm (BNPB) is teaming up with ministries and organizations to apply weather condition modification innovation (TMC) to extinguish fires and support other needs.
Associated news: BMKG sounds wildfire alert in 12 E Nusa Tenggara sub-districts
In the last 2 months, TMC has been implemented continually in Riau, West Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), West Java, Jambi, Jakarta, South Kalimantan, and South Sumatra, BNPB head, Lieutenant General Suharyanto, noted in a current statement.
On the other hand, specific areas on the Indonesian island of Sumatra have been blanketed by haze arising from wildfires.
The South Sumatra administration has actually dispersed 3.6 million masks to regional homeowners in reaction to unhealthy air conditions brought on by the smog.
According to head of the South Sumatra Health Service, Trisnawarman, the Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU) in Palembang City had actually reached a damaging level on October 1, 2023.
Such bad air quality could seriously hurt public health, he included.
The Pekanbaru city administration in Riau Province was supposedly considering closing schools if the haze, which had actually engulfed the area for days, continued to intensify.
Related news: Improving water management to satiate drought-prone areas
Associated news: Jakarta doubles food reserves to anticipate El Nino
