Five areas, mostly in the Klang Valley, have breached the 100 Air Pollutant Index mark as of 5pm today.

According to the data available on the Department of Environment's website, the five areas are Putrajaya (110), Banting (117), Port Klang (131), Cheras (105) along with Manjung (107) and Taiping (102) in Perak.

A brief shower at about 5pm in Kuala Lumpur brought respite to city folk.

It is possibly linked to cloud seeding efforts at 2pm today by the authorities in several major cities.

Overall, air quality has deteriorated across the west coast of peninsula Malaysia as the day progressed.

Seven areas -  Batu , Shah Alam , Petaling Jaya , Kuala Selangor , Perai , Sungai Petani and Muar  - are inching closer towards 100 API reading mark.

The haze is the result of commencement of forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia, which is off the west coast of the peninsula.

This is coupled with the current dry season, which is expected to last until the end of the month.

Water reservoirs in states such as Selangor and Negri Sembilan are reportedly drying up, causing water rationing in Selangor and a lack of consistent water supply in several areas in the state.