Air Pollution in Jakarta Worsens during New Normal Transition

KOMPAS.com – Air pollution in Jakarta has worsened since it entered its new normal transition on June 5.

Jakarta recently became the second-biggest contributor to air pollution even though the city is midway through its new normal transition.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan announced the city’s new normal transition phase to last until the end of June.

Since business and economic activities have picked up, Jakarta’s infamous gridlock traffic has become an increasingly common scene.

Read also: Jakarta Slowly Creeps Back towards Choking Traffic as it Enters New Normal

Kompas.com reported 410 traffic points around the Greater Jakarta area on June 15 in which 1,728 personnel were deployed to ease the traffic jams.

Director of Rujak.org Elisa Sutanudjaja reported a significant uptick in the number of four-wheel vehicles since June 4.

The assessment was based on data obtained from Jakarta’s 2,000 CCTV cameras.

Read also: WHO Cautions Indonesia on New Normal Preparations

The Jakarta provincial government imposed social restriction rules as a means of minimizing the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Lockdowns in China and Italy caused similar improvements to their fight against Covid-19.

On April 22, Jakarta was ranked 38th as a contributor to air pollution.

The combination of the increasing volume of vehicles on the road and low precipitation levels has fueled Jakarta’s increasingly poor air quality.

Jakarta’s Air Quality Worsens

The large number of vehicles crowding every corner of Jakarta has resulted in the capital city’s poor air quality.