Haze chokes Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore

The elderly, pregnant women and children should do as little of such activity as as possible, while those suffering from chronic lung or heart disease should not engage in these activities. He currently holds a 53-point advantage over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

The wind has also taken the haze to Malaysia and Singapore, causing concerns about its potential impact on next weekend’s Grand Prix.

However, a decision on whether it will be safe to race will be made by FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting after consulting with drivers and teams.

The September 20 race, the 13th round of this year’s Grand Prix schedule, costs the Singapore government million a year to host.

The floodlit night race around Singapore’s Marina Bay street circuit is the 13th round of the 2015 season.

The Air Pollutant Index (API) for these areas from 6am – 11am on Tuesday has been in the unhealthy range.

In 2013, the same three-hour index hit a historic high of 401, way above the “hazardous” 300 mark.

Air quality in Malaysia and Singapore has steadily deteriorated over the past two weeks due to the smog from nearby regions of Indonesia, which on Monday declared a state of emergency in a particularly hard-hit province.

The fires are a seasonal phenomenon over much of Southeast Asia owing to traditional “slash and burn” agriculture techniques, though environmentalists say the problem has been exacerbated by illegal land clearances to make way for lucrative paper and palm oil plantations.

Fourteen helicopters were dumping water on blazes on western Sumatra island and the Indonesian part of Borneo island and “cloud-seeding”, which involves using chemicals to induce rain, the country’s disaster agency said.

The air quality is due to worsen and a number of schools have been forced to close, while airline flights were delayed.

Arsyadjuliandi said he would ask all community health centers in Riau to open for 24 hours, with at least one doctor available in each.

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Malaysian Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told AFP he was “concerned because it affects the health of our people” and said he planned to meet his Indonesian counterpart, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, later this month to discuss the issue. South Sumatra alone has reported 22,585 cases of acute respiratory tract infections since Friday.