Potential disaster with smoke from land and forest fires is expected to wane this week. The rain is expected to fall evenly above the “largest smoke producer” region, Riau Province. This was stated by the Head of Early Warning of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agent (BMKG), Ahmad Zakir, Sunday (9/3).
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) states, the more hot spots cause the smoke grew dense. The smoke was due to land and forest fires are still occurring in the northern part of the region such as Dumai Riau, Bengkalis, Siak, and Meranti. Based on the observation of BNPB, the value of visibility in Pekanbaru in the morning could reach 1,000 meters, then dropped to 500 m during the day and rise again this afternoon to 1,000 m.
[Story by SIEJ member Sulung Prasetyo. Read full text on Sinar Harapan]