Martapura, S Kalimantan, Oct 4 (Antara) - Martapura city in South Kalimantan province has been shrouded by thick haze coming from forest and plantation fires, over the past three days.
Haze reduced the visibility in Martapura to 100-200 meters, while in suburban areas visibility was only 50 meters on Saturday morning, said Nurdin, a local resident.
"The visibility downtown is better than in suburban areas, such as Dalam Pagar and Telok Selong villages, where it is less than 50 meters," he added.
Haze has also affected the respiratory health of local inhabitants and caused eye irritations, he added.
Head of the Banjar Environmental Office Farid Soufian said the district administration has set up six haze mitigation posts, due to the haze emergency status declared by local authorities.
Another city of South Kalimantan, Banjarbaru has also been affected by haze. Some 1,500 masks would be distributed to protect the public from haze caused by forest and land fires.
Banjarbaru Deputy Mayor Ogi Fajar Nuzuli said on Friday that the anti-haze masks will be mainly distributed among Muslims who would offer Idul Adha prayers in open fields, such as Murjani Field in front of the City Hall and Unlam Banjarbaru Field.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) plans to seed clouds for artificial rain and use C-130 Hercules aircraft of the Air Force to help in extinguishing fires at hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"We plan to use artificial rain until October," BNPB`s head of the Data Information Center and Public Relations, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said in Jakarta recently.
Creating artificial rain is one of the steps taken by the officials in charge of extinguishing the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
He said that artificial rain had also been used in the provinces of Riau, South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan.
Recently, some 1,236 hotspots from forest and plantation fires were detected in the six provinces of South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Riau, and Jambi.
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA News Kalimantan Selatan 2014
Haze reduced the visibility in Martapura to 100-200 meters, while in suburban areas visibility was only 50 meters on Saturday morning, said Nurdin, a local resident.
"The visibility downtown is better than in suburban areas, such as Dalam Pagar and Telok Selong villages, where it is less than 50 meters," he added.
Haze has also affected the respiratory health of local inhabitants and caused eye irritations, he added.
Head of the Banjar Environmental Office Farid Soufian said the district administration has set up six haze mitigation posts, due to the haze emergency status declared by local authorities.
Another city of South Kalimantan, Banjarbaru has also been affected by haze. Some 1,500 masks would be distributed to protect the public from haze caused by forest and land fires.
Banjarbaru Deputy Mayor Ogi Fajar Nuzuli said on Friday that the anti-haze masks will be mainly distributed among Muslims who would offer Idul Adha prayers in open fields, such as Murjani Field in front of the City Hall and Unlam Banjarbaru Field.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) plans to seed clouds for artificial rain and use C-130 Hercules aircraft of the Air Force to help in extinguishing fires at hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"We plan to use artificial rain until October," BNPB`s head of the Data Information Center and Public Relations, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said in Jakarta recently.
Creating artificial rain is one of the steps taken by the officials in charge of extinguishing the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
He said that artificial rain had also been used in the provinces of Riau, South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan.
Recently, some 1,236 hotspots from forest and plantation fires were detected in the six provinces of South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Riau, and Jambi.
Editor : Imam Hanafi
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA News Kalimantan Selatan 2014