Indonesia has declared emergency due to forecasts on blazes and impacts of smoke from forest and land fires, Indonesian Minister of Forestry and Environment Siti Nurbaya said.
Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reports reported that the minister announced the news during his visit to Tanah Laut in South Kalimantan on Sunday.
Nurbaya also said that the situation leading to such a crisis will be monitored closely.
She said prompt response and effective monitoring helped to reduce the number of fires in Jambi and West Kalimantan significantly. However, the number of hot spots increased during July and August, especially in Riau and West Kalimantan.
The Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency (BMKG) of Indonesia said the total number of hotspots has increased as a result of the dry season and drought in Sumatra and vicinities.
The agency expects that the dry season will last until mid-September in 2016.
