Unhealthy air quality persists over central and southern peninsula

 High pollution readings recorded in 36 areas, with Pasir Gudang in Johor recording the highest level of 190.

Unhealthy air pollution levels caused by smoke from fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan continued to persist over the central and southern parts of the peninsula today.

PETALING JAYA:

Unhealthy air pollution readings were recorded in 36 areas, most of them in the central and southern regions of the peninsula as of 5.45pm today, with Pasir Gudang in Johor recording the highest reading at 190.

The Asean haze monitoring centre reported that isolated to scattered hotspots were detected in Kalimantan and southern Sumatra with moderate to dense transboundary smoke haze observed over parts of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan, and southern and central Sumatra.

The centre said showers are expected over Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and the northern and central parts of Borneo, over the next few days, and the hotspot and smoke haze situation may improve. Dry conditions are forecast over other parts of the southern Asean region.

The haze situation is expected to stay elevated in fire-prone regions experiencing prolonged dry conditions, with a continued risk of severe haze occurrence.

The Asean haze monitoring centre said moderate to dense smoke haze was observed over parts of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan, and southern and central Sumatra.

Many air quality stations in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan and Sumatra are reporting unhealthy to hazardous levels of air pollution, the centre said.

In the peninsula, most of the affected areas were in Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, the Klang Valley, Perak, Pahang, Kedah and Penang, Bernama reported.

• Johor: Segamat (187), Larkin (185), Tangkak (183), Batu Pahat (177), Kluang (176), Pengerang (175) and Kota Tinggi (175).
• Negeri Sembilan: Seremban (189), Nilai (183) and Port Dickson (174).
• Melaka: Bukit Rambai (187), Bandaraya Melaka (183) and Alor Gajah (181).
• Selangor: Johan Setia (181), Shah Alam (175), Petaling Jaya (167), Klang (167), Banting (166) and Kuala Selangor (156).
• Kuala Lumpur: Cheras (177) and Batu Muda (172), while Putrajaya recorded 170.
• Perak: Tasek Ipoh (182), Pegoh Ipoh (176), Tanjung Malim (174), Seri Manjung (158) and Taiping (110).
• Pahang: Rompin (162), Indera Mahkota in Kuantan (158) and Temerloh (156).
• Kedah: Sungai Petani (156) and Alor Setar (152).
• Penang; Seberang Jaya (147) and Seberang Perai (129).

A total of 32 areas nationwide recorded moderate API readings, while no areas recorded good readings.

API readings of zero to 50 indicate good air quality, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, while readings above 300 are considered hazardous. - FMT