ALL schools in Putrajaya will be closed tomorrow after the air quality in the area continued to trend at very unhealthy levels, the Putrajaya Education Department said today.

“All schools in Putrajaya will be closed tomorrow on September 17, 2019, after the reading on the air pollutant index (API) started rising beyond 200, after 5pm today,” it said in a statement today.

The API reading at 7pm today was 205. A reading of 0-50 is good, 51-100 is moderate, 101-200 is unhealthy, 201-300 is very unhealthy, and 300 and above is hazardous.

There are about 25 schools around the administrative capital, 15 of which primary schools.

It is one of the four areas that also reported poor air quality from early morning, throughout the day.

Sri Aman (207), Kuching (206) and Johan Setia (229) joined Putrajaya in its “very unhealthy” status.

The air quality in Samarahan, which reported very unhealthy air this morning, saw slight improvement with a reading of 190 this afternoon.

Meanwhile, 29 areas reported unhealthy air, whereas another 29 were moderate. Six areas reported good air quality.

Cloud seeding was carried out this afternoon by Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), in conjunction with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and the National Disaster Management Agency in Selangor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan.

According MetMalaysia, the RMAF jet took off from Subang Airbase at 12.30pm before returning at 3pm.

“We are pleased to announce that the cloud seeding exercise that was carried out today has come to fruition,” MetMalaysia director-general Jailan Simon said in a statement today.

While rainfall was reported in Cheras, Bangsar, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Klang, Klang, Gombak, Seremban, Tampin, Jelebu, Alor Gajah, and Jasin, the volume was below expectation, said Jailan.

“We were made to understand that the crew faced some obstacles due to the crowded airspace,” he added. – September 16, 2019.