Wildfire haze sent 58,017 students in Indonesia’s Palangka Raya into online classes during a mid-October monitoring period, while residents reported coughs and one street vendor said her sales had fallen.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) measured a PM2.5 concentration of 335.1 micrograms per cubic meter in the city at 9 a.m. ET (8 p.m. WIB) on Oct. 21. The agency classified the fine-particle reading as hazardous.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education counted 413 institutions covered by fully online learning for at least one day of its Oct. 15–17 monitoring period. Its dashboard put the number of students under the measure at 58,017.
Universitas Palangka Raya said in a Sept. 2 notice that online classes had begun Aug. 31. It set no date for a return to in-person teaching, saying that decision would depend on an assessment of fire, haze, visibility and health conditions.
Euronews reported that Melsi, 40, a street vendor, said her sales had fallen and the cost of goods had risen. In the same report, Sifra, 29, said she and her family had been coughing for almost a month. Novita, 20, described a severe cough and said she had studied online for nearly a semester.
Indonesia’s Health Ministry said Oct. 18 that Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had ordered 500,000 additional masks for each of seven provinces affected by the fires, including Central Kalimantan. The order also covered oxygen concentrators and medicines according to local needs.
BMKG reported 5,283 high-confidence hotspots across Central Kalimantan through Sept. 21. The regional satellite count does not represent the number of fires in Palangka Raya. The government’s wildfire response has also drawn criticism during student protests across Indonesia.
BMKG said Oct. 20 that it was using dry ice in weather-modification operations across Sumatra and Kalimantan to address atmospheric conditions that hold smoke near the ground. The agency said it was assessing the operation using visibility and PM2.5 readings.
