API exceeds 100 in two areas
API exceeds 100 in two areas
12 September 2005
published by www.nst.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR — The Air Pollution Index in two areas in the Klang Valley breached the unhealthy mark of 100 today.
Kuala Selangor had a reading of 108, while Gombak recorded 101 at 5pm.
This came a month after the Government declared an emergency on Aug 11 in Kuala Selangor and Port Klang when the API reading went beyond the 500 mark.
The state of emergency order was retracted on Aug 13 when conditions improved.
A satellite report from the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre showed 78 hot spots in North Sumatra and 391 in Kalimantan.
There were also eight hotspots each in Selangor and Perak, three in Sarawak and one in Sabah.
Todays unhealthy readings in the two areas were caused by two peat fires in Banting and at Km18.6 of the Kesas highway in Puchong respectively.
The fires also affected visibility at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
A Selangor Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said it would take them a week to put out the fires.
He advised those travelling towards KLIA to exercise caution due to poor visibility. However, all flights were on schedule.
