Eerie orange smog shrouds Indonesian cities

Orange smog has blanketed cities in Indonesia as wildfire pollution continues to cause dangerous conditions for the country and its neighbours. <p>Areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan have had <strong><a href="https://news.sky.com/topic/air-pollution-7588/1" target="_self">air pollution</a></strong> index readings far in excess of the "hazardous" threshold.</p><p>Levels several times higher than the threshold were also recorded in the Katingan district of Central Kalimantan on Thursday, and the provincial capital of Palangka Raya.</p><widget id="8"></widget> <widget id="9"></widget><p>Dozens of people held a protest in Palangka Raya to call for better handling of the situation.</p><p>"The sky yesterday was very yellow," said 46-year-old resident, Adinata.</p><p>"People's activities are far reduced because of this condition. ​We hope there will be rain soon that will ease this problem."</p><p>The smog has been caused by peatland fires, which can smoulder beneath the surface and re-emerge.

They also produce thicker smoke.</p><p>Commercial farmers burning land to make way for crops such as palm oil have been blamed for many of the <strong><a href="https://news.sky.com/topic/wildfires-9575/1" target="_self">wildfires</a></strong>.</p><p>It's led to <strong><a href="https://news.sky.com/topic/indonesia-6227/1" target="_self">Indonesia</a></strong>'s worst fire season since 2015.</p> <widget id="15"></widget><p>Some of the fires have been burning for months, with more than 270,000 cases of respiratory illness reported in just seven of Indonesia's 38 provinces.</p><p>The haze has also affected air quality in Singapore, East Timor and Malaysia - where some schools have had to shut.</p> <widget id="11"></widget> <widget id="12"></widget><p>Emissions from the fires have been the highest in the world ⁠for a month, according to the EU-linked Fire Emissions Watch.</p><p>It says "hotter and drier conditions" related to the onset of the El Nino phenomenon are also "driving significantly increased emissions and smoke pollution".</p> <widget id="7"></widget> <widget id="14"></widget><p>President Prabowo ‌Subianto appointed a new head of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency on Thursday.

It's unclear if the appointment was linked to the wildfire problem.</p><p>On Tuesday, Mr Subianto also ordered more resources to be deployed to fight the blazes amid growing criticism of the response.</p><p>Pantau Gambut, a peatland protection group, estimates 16 million of Indonesia's 24 million hectares of peatland have become more fire-prone due to factors such as deforestation and the depletion of water tables.</p>