THE areas showing unhealthy air pollutant index (API) readings in Malaysia have increased to 25 as of 10am today, said the Department of Environment.

Very unhealthy air quality has forced 19 schools in Selangor and 26 schools in Pahang to close.

The Education Ministry said in a circular that the schools will be closed in areas with API readings exceeding 200 .

Yesterday evening, the number of districts badly hit by transboundary smoke had dropped to 16 from 22 on Wednesday.

The Selangor government will conduct cloud-seeding today in areas registering 200 and higher on the API.

The Disaster Management Committee is also activated in districts where the API has read 151-200 for more than 24 hours.

Dust masks will also be distributed free to the people in the state.

Johan Setia is the only “very unhealthy” district in Selangor at 209 API.

Meanwhile, cloud seeding is also expected to take place in Sarawak.

The areas with unhealthy air this morning are Batu Muda (152) and Cheras (144) in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya (140),  Petaling Jaya (139) and Shah Alam (135) in Selangor.

In Penang, the API in Minden is 113; in Perak in Seri Manjung (124); Negri Sembilan Nilai (126), Malacca town (105).

The API is 109 in Sungai Petani, Kedah, 133 in Tangkak, Johor, and 161 in Rompin, Pahang.

An API reading of 0-50 is good, 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy), and 300 and above (hazardous). – September 13, 2019.