KUCHING: The air quality at districts in southern Sarawak has deteriorated today, even as more forest fires are flaring up in the state.
The Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Lundu at 8am today had shot up to 125, which is beyond the 100 unhealthy mark, said the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB).
The API level there was only 89 yesterday.
Lundu district is about 90km from state capital Kuching.
Located at the southernmost tip of Sarawak, it also shares a land border with Kalimantan in Indonesia.
Kuching this morning recorded an API level of 94, Sri Aman recorded 91 and Mukah 90.
All other districts are still seeing moderate levels but these are rising, the NREB said in its updates on the latest API today.
Mukah is experiencing a massive wildfire that is spreading in a forest within in the central Sarawak district.
The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department said the flames there were raging since last night.
“Our Mukah Bomba teams are having difficulties reaching the locations as the fires are burning in places far away inside the deep forests.
“There are no roads accessing to these places,“ the department said.
The nearest location to one of the fire sites is the campus ground of Universiti Teknologi Mara Mukah, it added.
The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre in the meantime showed satellite images of winds sweeping into Sarawak from Kalimantan.
There are more than a hundred hotspots raging in that southern Borneo region of Indonesia.
Earlier this week, Sarawak had officially declared a red alert for haze and forest fires.
