Indonesia, Aug. 24 -- The Indonesian government is taking legal action against approximately 30 companies over forest and land fires this year, seeking nearly 15 trillion rupiah ($847.9 million) in state loss claims and environmental restoration fines.

Speaking after inspecting wildfire mitigation operations in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, on Monday, Environment Minister Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat said the legal claims include 5 trillion rupiah ($282.6 million) for direct state losses and roughly 10 trillion rupiah ($565.3 million) for environmental rehabilitation.

"They must compensate for state losses and fund environmental restoration," Hidayat said, emphasizing that the nationwide crackdown aims to strictly enforce bans on illegal lan...