Serian Plunged into ‘Hazardous’ Air Quality as Transboundary Haze Spikes API to 518

SERIAN, Sept 4 — Serian recorded a critical Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 518 as of 10 am today, placing the district firmly in the “hazardous” category as transboundary haze continues to severely degrade air quality across Sarawak.

According to the Department of Environment’s (DOE) Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS), any API reading exceeding 300 is classified as hazardous, while scores between 201 and 300 fall into the “very unhealthy” range. State capital Kuching also entered hazardous territory after registering an API level of 310, while neighbouring Kota Samarahan and Sri Aman recorded very unhealthy levels at 281 and 245 respectively.

The spike in air pollution places affected areas within the threshold for emergency intervention. Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas previously noted that localities recording API levels reaching 500 could be declared under a state of emergency by the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), clarifying that any such declaration would apply strictly to specific affected districts rather than enforced statewide.

In response to the deteriorating atmospheric conditions, cloud-seeding operations have been actively conducted across strategic catchment zones in Sarawak to replenish water storage levels and help wash out particulate matter.

Beyond the most critically affected districts, DOE monitoring revealed that 10 additional locations nationwide registered “unhealthy” API readings. These comprise six locations in Sarawak—Sarikei (181), Sibu (177), Mukah (173), Bintulu (157), Samalaju (152), and the Miri Industrial Training Institute (116)—alongside two in Johor (Pasir Gudang at 124 and Segamat at 105) and two in Sabah (Sandakan at 152 and Kota Kinabalu Polytechnic at 105).

Across the rest of the country, 42 monitoring stations recorded “moderate” air quality levels, while 12 locations maintained “good” readings.

–NMT