Beijing launches ‘emergency measures’ against air pollution
15 Jan 2013 5:40 AM IST
Faced with the problem of thick smog and dangerous levels of pollutants blanketing Beijing and several cities for four consecutive days, Chinese officials on Monday claimed to have initiated ‘emergency measures’ to assuage public anger over the issue.
Choked in dense smog, Beijing started emergency response measures to curb the air pollution at hazardous levels, official media here reported.
The measures were aimed to assuage public anger over the government’s inability to clear the smog.
Monitoring data showed the Air Quality Index in most parts of the capital reached 500, the maximum pollution level.
A senior official with the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said emergency measures, like halting the outdoor sports activities for primary and middle schools in several places to prevent children from getting exposed to smoggy weather which has the potential to cause severe lung and respiratory infections, were ordered.
Also construction was suspended at 28 construction sites and 54 businesses reduced their emissions by 30 per cent, with Beijing Hyundai Motor Company halting production yesterday, the Bureau said.
Beijing has a permanent population of around 20 million and some 5.2 million vehicles.
Pollutants, parts of which came from vehicle waste and coal burning in the chilly winter, gradually accumulated in recent windless days.
The hazy weather continued on Monday. Doctors with the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital and the Beijing Children’s Hospital said the number of patients with respiratory disease had jumped sharply in the past few days, according to state-run Global Times.
The official media joined the public anguish over the ‘grey days’ making life in Beijing ‘gloomy’. The state-run People’s Daily termed the smog as a ‘suffocating siege’ and asked the government to address it urgently.
‘Let us clearly view managing environmental pollution with a sense of urgency,’ it said.
Official China Daily said the country had to learn to balance development with quality of life.
Choked in dense smog, Beijing started emergency response measures to curb the air pollution at hazardous levels, official media here reported.
The measures were aimed to assuage public anger over the government’s inability to clear the smog.
Monitoring data showed the Air Quality Index in most parts of the capital reached 500, the maximum pollution level.
A senior official with the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said emergency measures, like halting the outdoor sports activities for primary and middle schools in several places to prevent children from getting exposed to smoggy weather which has the potential to cause severe lung and respiratory infections, were ordered.
Also construction was suspended at 28 construction sites and 54 businesses reduced their emissions by 30 per cent, with Beijing Hyundai Motor Company halting production yesterday, the Bureau said.
Beijing has a permanent population of around 20 million and some 5.2 million vehicles.
Pollutants, parts of which came from vehicle waste and coal burning in the chilly winter, gradually accumulated in recent windless days.
The hazy weather continued on Monday. Doctors with the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital and the Beijing Children’s Hospital said the number of patients with respiratory disease had jumped sharply in the past few days, according to state-run Global Times.
The official media joined the public anguish over the ‘grey days’ making life in Beijing ‘gloomy’. The state-run People’s Daily termed the smog as a ‘suffocating siege’ and asked the government to address it urgently.
‘Let us clearly view managing environmental pollution with a sense of urgency,’ it said.
Official China Daily said the country had to learn to balance development with quality of life.
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