OMM Redaksiyası
About 175,000 people in Indonesia have suffered respiratory illnesses since August as authorities battle forest fires that have blanketed parts of the country in toxic haze, according to the BBC.
More than 40,000 of the cases involved toddlers. Reported conditions range from coughs and bronchitis to more serious illnesses, including pneumonia.
Wildfires continue to affect Indonesia and neighbouring countries
The smoke has also spread to neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, where air quality levels have reached “unhealthy” territory. The haze has extended as far as parts of the Philippines, prompting officials to advise residents to remain indoors whenever possible.
Indonesia has deployed more than 54,000 officials and dozens of aircraft to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra for water-bombing operations. Authorities say the country’s vast territory and difficult peatland conditions are complicating efforts to extinguish the fires.
“From the air to the ground, all forces continue to move,” Indonesia’s Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said on Monday. “Everything is being done to extinguish the fires, reduce the impact of the smoke, and, most importantly, protect the public from the threat of forest and land fires.”
Nearly 900,000 hectares burned since January
Indonesia regularly faces wildfires during its dry season, which generally lasts from July to October. This year, extremely dry conditions linked to a powerful El Niño event have intensified the fires and haze.
The forest monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas had detected about 734,000 hotspots across Indonesia by Wednesday, more than 30% above the level recorded in 2019, one of the country’s worst wildfire seasons.
At least 895,657 hectares of land have burned since January, an area nearly six times the size of Greater London. The fires have caused school closures and contributed to a rise in hospital admissions.
Health ministry figures showed that the number of people suffering wildfire-related respiratory illnesses more than doubled to 113,336 by September 9, from 50,891 on September 1.
Wildlife and communities affected by the smoke
The haze has also harmed wildlife, including critically endangered orangutans. An orangutan found on a palm oil plantation in West Kalimantan was rescued and treated for hypoxia after being filmed struggling on the ground, but later died.
Indigenous and civil society groups in West Kalimantan filed a class-action lawsuit last week against the central government and local authorities. They accused officials of negligence for failing to properly address the fires in the province.
“This is a disaster that occurs every year,” lawyer Glorio Sanen said in a statement. “This recurring pattern proves our view that the defendants knew about the potential haze disaster and the risks of disaster from forest and land fires.”
Indonesia has conducted several cloud-seeding operations in recent weeks, including efforts involving members of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces who arrived in Borneo earlier this month to assist with firefighting.
Authorities in Malaysia’s Sarawak state also launched a five-day cloud-seeding operation. The effort was intended both to reduce the haze and to raise water levels at hydropower dams ahead of a forecast dry spell in October.
“October might be hotter and drier,” Sarawak Deputy Premier Douglas Uggah Embas said. “We want to increase the water levels as much as possible while we still can.”
