Overview
- The weather agency deployed 15 aircraft for large‑scale cloud seeding, with nine planes operating over Central and South Kalimantan and six over South Sumatra to try to produce rain over active fires.
- Independent satellite analysis by Nusantara Atlas estimates about 1.9 million hectares burned from January through September 2026, making this one of Indonesia’s worst fire seasons on record.
- Local air monitors recorded extreme pollution, including an AQI of about 1,247 in Palangka Raya and visibility under 300 meters, while the Health Ministry logged more than 283,000 acute respiratory infections in affected areas between 18 August and 13 October.
- Smoke forced school closures and other disruptions in neighboring countries, and Malaysian authorities began a phased reopening of schools as winds improved and local air quality eased.
- Officials say the fires are mainly driven by human land clearing and drained peatlands for plantations, which smolder for months and threaten wildlife such as orang‑utans; the Forestry Ministry has imposed sanctions on 32 firms and suspended six permits in Central Kalimantan.