Fire Expands, Palangka Raya City Government Sets Emergency Response For Forest And Land Fires

Illustration of the smog fog caused by the Karhutla in Riau (ANTARA)

PALANGKA RAYA - Pemerintah Kota (Pemkot) Palangka Raya menetapkan status tanggap darurat kebakaran hutan dan lahan (karhutla). Status tersebut ditetapkan lantaran intensitas karhutla di Palangka Raya terus meningkatkan dan mengakibatkan bencana suci siap di ibu kota Kalimantan Tengah tersebut. Status tanggap darurat karahutla ini berla berlakukan selama 14 hari sejak 29 September 2023 hingga 12 Oktober 2023.

Acting Mayor of Palangka Raya, Hera Nugrahayu said the determination of the emergency response status of forest and land fires was needed as an effort to deal with forest and land fires more seriously. It is emphasized that forest and land fires have a bad impact on the community.

As a result of forest and land fires, the air quality in Palangka Raya has continued to deteriorate over the past few weeks. Based on the standard index of air pollution (ISPU) of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), the air quality in Palangka Raya has been at a bad level for health.

"So the Palangka Raya City Government has raised the status of forest and land fires from alert to emergency response status, starting from September 29 to October 12, 2023," said Hera, Tuesday, October 3.

Hera also emphasized that the decision to establish an emergency response status for forest and land fires has gone through stages and procedures or disaster SOPs. The determination of this status is based on data on the impact of forest and land fires that occurred in Palangka Raya, such as air quality, people exposed to smog, and disrupted community economic activity.

"We have seen and paid attention to existing data, such as the standard index of air pollution (ISPU) which is already at unhealthy numbers. That is one of them. Then, the impact of forest and land fires that affect public health such as acute respiratory infection disease (ARI) and other impacts related to community activities," he explained.

As a consequence of the determination of the emergency response status of forest and land fires, the Palangka Raya City Government will involve all existing stakeholders, such as the TNI-Polri, volunteers, as well as the ranks of the provincial government and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in an effort to handle forest and land fires in one command post.

Not only that, the Palangka Raya City Government has also prepared a number of health facilities including health posts to handle people affected by the smog in 11 health centers spread across Palangka Raya City.