Smoke Fog Covers Pekanbaru, BMKG Records 57 Hot Spots in Riau

PEKANBARU - A haze with air that irritates the throat enveloped Pekanbaru City, Riau Province, with a visibility range at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport only 1.2 kilometers on Wednesday, March 11, based on BMKG monitoring.

Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Praktirawan, Mari Frystine, said in the morning the air was observed to be hazy to sunny. Based on BMKG observations, there was a humid haze in the Pekanbaru City area.

"Weather friends, the potential for a little rain today will cause the land to dry out. Therefore, we appeal to you to be able to wet the land in the yard so that it is not dusty, and do not open the land by burning because it can trigger karhutla," he said in Pekanbaru, Wednesday, March 11.

BMKG also recorded a total of 121 hotspots in the Sumatran Islands based on satellite monitoring until 23.00 WIB, Tuesday (10/3). Of these, Riau Province became the region with the most hotspots, reaching 57 points spread across a number of districts and cities.

The most hotspots in Riau were observed in Pelalawan Regency with 15 points, followed by Bengkalis Regency with 11 points. Furthermore, seven hotspots were detected in Kampar Regency, Indragiri Hulu (4), and Dumai City (3), Kuantan Singingi (3), Siak (2), Inderagiri Hilir (1).

Meanwhile, the Manggala Agni Ministry of Forestry reported that there was a forest fire in Pelalawan Regency and the team had entered the location. In addition, the Regional Disaster Management Agency and the Riau Fire Department also reported a forest fire in Bengkalis Regency.

Apart from Riau, a number of other provinces in Sumatra have also been observed to have hot spots, including Aceh with 19 points, Jambi (14), Bangka Belitung (10), North Sumatra (8), South Sumatra (6), Riau Islands (5), and one point each in West Sumatra and Lampung.