The head of public relations and information data center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said here on Sunday until the 10th day of operations to eradicate haze in Riau several indicators had shown a positive trend.
Based on the results of monitoring through NOAA satellites on June 22 the number of fires was still recorded at 92 while on June 24 it reached 265 but on June 29 only one was left over.
This has resulted in the improvement of air quality in the region and visibility, he said.
On June 20 he said the standard air pollution index in Duri reached 1,048 and in Dumai 688 signalling hazard.
But on June 29 it dropped to 98 SPI in Duri, 78 in Dumai, 59 in Singapore, 48 in Kuala Lumpur and 44 in Selangor, Malaysia.
SPI reading between 300 and 500 shows danger while from 50 to 100 mild effects and below 50 is good.
Sutopo said before operations began on June 21 average visibility was less than 100 meters but from June 26 to 30 it reached one to ten kilometers in several places in Riau.
Efforts to fight land and forest fires are still continuing including water bombing and artificial rain making, he said.
He called on all people to never again conduct burning to clear land as fire hazards remained high in the current dry season until October.
(H-YH/A014)
Reporter: Virna P Setyorini
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
