PETALING JAYA: There is no letting up in the haze situation with unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings of over 100 recorded in 26 areas nationwide as of 6pm yesterday.
The hardest hit areas were in the southern region of Peninsular Malaysia with all monitoring stations in Johor and Melaka recording unhealthy API readings.
According to the Department of Environment’s API Management System (APIMS) portal, these areas included Pasir Gudang (176), Larkin (168), Kota Tinggi (166), Pengerang (163), Batu Pahat (159), Kluang (152), Tangkak (152), and Segamat (123) in Johor.
Over in Melaka, the affected areas included Bukit Rambai (165), Melaka city (164), and Alor Gajah (153).
In Kuala Lumpur, unhealthy readings were seen in Cheras (151), and Batu Muda (154).
Other areas with unhealthy API readings included Nilai (159), Seremban (157), and Port Dickson (151) in Negri Sembilan, as well as the Selangor areas of Johan Setia (155), Klang (152), and Shah Alam (140).
As for the east coast states, among the areas impacted were the Pahang district of Rompin (157), and Balok Baru Kuantan (157), as well as Paka (127) in Terengganu.
In east Malaysia, similar unhealthy API readings were detected in Tawau (153) in Sabah, along with Sri Aman (159), and IPD Serian (153) in Sarawak.
Forty areas across Malaysia recorded moderate API readings, while only two areas recorded good API readings.
API readings of between zero and 50 indicate good air quality, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, while readings above 300 are categorised as hazardous.
