Indonesians brave choking smoke to pray for rain as country battles wildfires

Indonesians brave choking smoke to pray

Ecorescuezone.com – Indonesians brave choking smoke to pray as South Sumatra’s capital Palembang was engulfed in a thick, acrid haze on Tuesday. Roughly 3,000 residents gathered in the courtyard of the governor’s office to perform salat istisqa, a special Islamic prayer asking God for rain, while roads, buildings, and public facilities disappeared behind walls of smoke. Visibility dropped so severely that drivers switched on their headlights in broad daylight.

The spiritual gathering came amid the worst wildfire season in years. Satellite imagery released by the Environment Ministry placed South Sumatra at the top of the national hot-spot list with 1,429 detections, ahead of West Kalimantan (1,226) and Central Kalimantan (811). Forestry Ministry figures showed that close to 940 square kilometres of land burned in July alone, including more than 20 square kilometres within South Sumatra province.

“We have done everything we can and worked closely with all relevant parties,” Governor Herman Deru told the crowd before the prayer began. “As people of faith, we are also praying to God to send rain so that life can return to normal.”

Deru framed the public prayer as a complement to ongoing firefighting and drought-mitigation operations, describing it as a moment for residents to stand together against the environmental crisis gripping the province. Prolonged dry weather, amplified by an intensifying El Niño pattern, has kept fire risk elevated across central and western Sumatra.

Scaling Up the Response Across the Archipelago

The National Disaster Management Agency confirmed that dense smoke from Indonesian fires has drifted into neighbouring Malaysia and Brunei, a recurring source of diplomatic friction in Southeast Asia. To counter the blaze, Indonesia has ramped up weather-modification operations: 30 aircraft are conducting cloud-seeding and water-bombing sorties