Malaysia’s haze situation worsened on Wednesday, with 40 monitoring stations recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as smoke continued to affect several parts of the country.
According to the Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS), Johan Setia in Selangor recorded the highest reading at 181 as of 6am, followed by Cheras in Kuala Lumpur at 179, Nilai in Negeri Sembilan at 178, Putrajaya at 176 and Shah Alam in Selangor at 175.
Other areas in Selangor also remained affected, with unhealthy readings recorded in several parts of the state. The situation comes after 39 areas nationwide were in the unhealthy category as of 4pm on Tuesday, with Johan Setia recording an API reading of 188 at the time.
Under Malaysia’s API classification, readings between 101 and 200 are considered unhealthy, while readings between 201 and 300 are classified as very unhealthy and those above 300 as hazardous.
The deteriorating air quality comes amid worsening forest and land fires in Indonesia, particularly in Kalimantan and Sumatra, with transboundary haze affecting neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.
Reuters reported that Indonesia is experiencing its most intense wildfire situation in more than a decade, with prolonged dry conditions and an intensifying El Niño contributing to the spread of fires. More than 12.5 million people across seven Indonesian provinces have been exposed to the haze, while respiratory illness cases have also risen sharply.
The Department of Environment’s APIMS portal provides hourly air-quality readings from monitoring stations nationwide
