REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU -- The Terra and Aqua satellites detected 36 hotspots indicating forest and plantation fires across Sumatra Island on Saturday morning, an official said.
There are 11 hotspots in Jambi province, 10 in Riau, nine in South Sumatra, two each in Aceh and Lampung, and one each in North Sumatra and West Sumatra, Head of the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Office Sugarin stated here on Saturday.
"In Riau province, seven of the 10 hotspots were found in Indragiri Hulu district," he added.
Riau was shrouded in haze, including smoke from the neighboring provinces of Jambi and South Sumatra, from Friday evening till Saturday morning.
While visibility in Pekanbaru, Pelalawan and Rengat dropped to 3 to 5 kilometers, it dropped drastically to 1 kilometer due to haze in Dumai.
However, flights to and from Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Pekanbaru have not been affected so far, Sugarin affirmed.
He further noted that the Air Quality Standard Index in six regions in Riau indicated that the air quality was moderate.
Gauging from the direction of the winds, Sugiran predicted that the haze may be blown across Malacca Strait to Malaysia and Singapore.
"The hotspots should not be tackled in Riau alone but need to be doused in other regions, as well, to prevent it from reaching neighboring countries," he remarked.
In addition, Sumatra faces the threat of more hotspots cropping up because it is experiencing a drought, with temperatures soaring to 34 degrees Celsius and humidity at 97 percent.
Moreover, the Riau Disaster Mitigation Office (BPBD) and the Agency for the Application and Assessment of Technology have been trying to extinguish hotspots using weather modification technology.
Cloud seeding efforts successfully produced rain in several regions, including Dumai and Pelalawan, on Saturday morning, Head of the Riau BPBD Edward Sanger pointed out.
"As the number of hotspots dropped, we will intensify the use of weather modification technology," he noted.
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