KUALA LUMPUR: A few places continued to register unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings yesterday afternoon with the worst being Alor Star in Kedah at 117, followed by Kangar in Perlis at 110.

SK Jalan Pegoh in Ipoh and Kg Air Putih in Taiping also recorded unhealthy air quality with readings of 105 and 102 respectively at 5pm yesterday.

Seri Manjung in Perak had an unhealthy reading of 103; and in Selangor, Port Klang was the worst at 101, according to figures on the Department of Environment website.

Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur, which recorded an unhealthy reading of 108 yesterday morning, improved after dropping to 93 in the afternoon.

Readings for Perai, Seberang Jaya and USM on Penang island also improved in the afternoon to moderate levels.

There were also improvements in Selangor in Shah Alam and Banting.

These areas along the peninsula’s west coast received the worst of smoke from hundreds of hotspots in Sumatra, Indonesia, where open burning was taking place to clear land for plantation crops.

API in the 0 to 50 range is good; 51 to 100 is moderate; 100 to 200 is unhealthy; 200 to 300, very unhealthy; and above 300, hazardous.

Most other areas recorded moderate API readings as at 5pm yesterday.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department has advised that the current haze will last for another two to three weeks before the inter-monsoon kicks in, when rain is expected. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on September 4, 2015.