JAKARTA: The area of land burned in Indonesia in September was double that of the previous month, according to a deforestation monitor, as the country battles fierce wildfires that have caused air pollution, respiratory problems and transboundary haze.
Indonesia's cumulative burned area stood at 895,650 hectares (2.2 million acres) in August, but that figure jumped to 1.92 million hectares (4.74 million acres) by the end of September, according to Nusantara Atlas satellite data.
That surpassed the 1.39 million hectares cumulatively burned at the same point in 2019, a year when fires ultimately scorched 2.63 million hectares of land.
There were 1.15 million fire hotspots across Indonesia as of October 20, according to the Nusantara Atlas fire map.
Indonesia has come under heavy criticism after months of wildfires that have caused respiratory problems for hundreds of thousands of people and spread thick haze to neighbouring Singapore, Malaysia and East Timor.
Indonesia has been undertaking weather modification operations in Sumatra and Kalimantan, with its cloud-seeding missions bringing rainfall and improving air quality in several fire hotspots.
West Kalimantan has mounted the largest such operation, with 107 flights in the past four weeks, authorities said.
"We are using dry ice to disperse the smoke and allow sunlight to help trigger rain-cloud formation before conducting cloud-seeding operations with salt," presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi said in a statement.
Since August 11, a total of 2,604 domestic flights have been affected by fires, with more than 1,400 cancelled or postponed, as haze disrupted landings, take-offs and ground operations, according to the civil aviation authority. - Reuters
