Antara, Jakarta – The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on Thursday detected 74 hotspots of wildfires in several areas of East Kalimantan province amid the ongoing dry season, an official said.

The hotspots were detected in the districts of Paser (5), Penajam Paser Utara (3), Kutai Barat (1), Kutai Timur (21), Kutai Kartanegara (15), Berau (7), and Mahakam Ulu (22), said Diyan Novrida, coordinator of data and information at the BMKG's Sepinggan Office, on Friday, July 28, 2023.

According to Novrida, the findings have been shared with the related authorities, including regional disaster mitigation agencies.

The BMKG has also appealed to residents to support the government's land and forest fire prevention efforts by not throwing cigarette butts carelessly and refraining from slash-and-burn farming methods, she said.

On Wednesday, the agency also detected 50 hotspots in 6 districts of East Kalimantan, which were extinguished, while, on Thursday, 74 hotspots were detected at different coordinates, she informed.

ANTARA has reported earlier that the BMKG has projected that this year's dry season will follow the same pattern as the one seen in 2019.

A total of 28 percent of regions in Indonesia, which include 194 seasonal zones (ZOM) determined by the BMKG, were expected to experience the dry season from June this year.

BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati said the El Nino phenomenon, which is getting stronger due to the positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), could trigger a drought during the dry season in Indonesia.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1753695/bmkg-says-74-hotspots-detected-in-east-kalimanta