Indonesia steps up wildfire fight as haze spreads
Indonesia is intensifying efforts to combat widespread wildfires using cloud seeding and water bombing as toxic haze impacts millions. Health officials report thousands of respiratory infections and have distributed millions of masks to vulnerable populations.
Why it matters
The crisis highlights the severe public health and environmental consequences of extreme weather events like El Nino in Southeast Asia.
Add TT as Preferred Source Indonesia has intensified efforts to fight wildfires with cloud seeding and water bombing as thousands of people countrywide battle to breathe in the smoke and haze, officials said on Friday.
More than 5 million people on Borneo and Sumatra islands were directly exposed to the risks of a putrid haze coming off dozens of fires across the vast archipelago, Indonesian Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono said.
About 13,500 people were treated for respiratory infections last month and this month, Dante said.
Several schools had been closed intermittently, and the haze has also made people in Singapore and Malaysia unwell.
“Vulnerable groups that must be evaluated are children, the elderly, pregnant women with asthma and outdoor workers,” Dante said.
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