JAKARTA - Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said on Thursday (Sept 19) that the emergency response team carried out cloud seeding operations in Riau on Wednesday, as well as in North Sumatra and Central Kalimantan.

After the operation in Riau, rainfall of medium intensity fell for around 30 minutes. The operations will be carried out again in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the agency said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Indonesia's weather forecast agency BMKG said heavy rainfall could come in the next seven days in Aceh, North Sumatra, North Kalimantan (north coastal areas) and Papua.

The agency also said that the number of hot spots across Asean had declined in the Sept 15 to 17 period, reaching 3,082.

On Sept 14, there were still 5,115 hot spots in Indonesia. But from Sept 15 to 17, the number of hot spots had fallen, especially in Kalimantan.

Transboundary haze from Sumatra had spread into Peninsular Malaysia, BMKG said. Haze also spread from West Kalimantan into Sarawak. This was because the wind in Riau blew from south-east to north-east, while the wind in West Kalimantan headed to the north.