KUALA LUMPUR: Schools, kindergartens and nurseries will be closed if the haze situation reached 'Very Unhealthy' Air Pollution Index (API) reading.
An API reading of 0–50 is considered good, 51–100 is moderate, 101–200 is unhealthy, 201-300 is very unhealthy and above 300 is hazardous.
Department of Environment (DoE) director-general Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaafar in a statement said schools, kindergartens and nurseries are required to constantly monitor the API readings.
"If the trend shows an increase towards 200, preparations need to be made to shut down the institution.
"Out-of-classroom activities must also be halted if the API reading breaches 100," he said today.
He added that the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) will activate the Disaster Management Committee at the district, state, or central level when the API reading exceeded 150 for a period of more than 24 hours.
Cloud seeding will also be carried out but will be subjected to the presence of clouds and suitable weather at an API reading above 150 for a period of more than 24 hours.
As of 8pm today, readings at nine locations in the country showed unhealthy stage of API reading between 101 to 200.
The highest was in Nilai, Negri Sembilan with 160 API reading, followed by Cheras in Kuala Lumpur with 159, Seremban in Negri Sembilan with 155, Banting in Selangor with 154, Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam with 153, Putrajaya, Kuala Selangor in Selangor and Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan with 151, and Johan Setia in Selangor with 133.