Smog cover pushes China to plead for fewer New Year fireworks
2 Feb 2013 7:14 AM IST
As heavily polluted smog continued to blanket Beijing, China on Friday appealed to people to set off fewer fireworks during the upcoming New year celebrations to improve the quality of air.
‘To improve the air quality and create a favourable environment for you and your family members, please set off fewer fireworks or no fireworks in order to reduce emissions of pollutants,’ state-run Xinhua news agency quoted an official with the Beijing Office of Fireworks and Firecrackers as saying.
Setting off firecrackers and fireworks during the Spring Festival or Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on 10 February this year, is an old tradition believed to bring good luck.
To reduce accidents and the impact on citizens' lives, Beijing restricts fireworks within certain areas during a 16-day period around the Spring Festival.
Three fireworks retailers in Beijing have 750,000 cartons of fireworks in stock for this year's festival, down from 810,000 cartons in 2012.
The number of shops approved to sell fireworks in Beijing has been reduced from 1,429 to 1,337, the official said.
After hours long firework-ignition spree on the eve of the Lunar New Year in 2012, the density of pollutants increased sharply at the downtown Chegongzhuang monitoring station, which was 1.5 times higher than the most polluted day so far this year in Beijing.
The prolonged smog that shrouded many parts of north and east China in January sparked debate over fireworks during the Spring Festival. On Friday, the capital's air quality index was above 110, or Level III, indicating slight pollution in the downtown area, after rain and wind on Thursday dispersed the smog.
‘To improve the air quality and create a favourable environment for you and your family members, please set off fewer fireworks or no fireworks in order to reduce emissions of pollutants,’ state-run Xinhua news agency quoted an official with the Beijing Office of Fireworks and Firecrackers as saying.
Setting off firecrackers and fireworks during the Spring Festival or Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on 10 February this year, is an old tradition believed to bring good luck.
To reduce accidents and the impact on citizens' lives, Beijing restricts fireworks within certain areas during a 16-day period around the Spring Festival.
Three fireworks retailers in Beijing have 750,000 cartons of fireworks in stock for this year's festival, down from 810,000 cartons in 2012.
The number of shops approved to sell fireworks in Beijing has been reduced from 1,429 to 1,337, the official said.
After hours long firework-ignition spree on the eve of the Lunar New Year in 2012, the density of pollutants increased sharply at the downtown Chegongzhuang monitoring station, which was 1.5 times higher than the most polluted day so far this year in Beijing.
The prolonged smog that shrouded many parts of north and east China in January sparked debate over fireworks during the Spring Festival. On Friday, the capital's air quality index was above 110, or Level III, indicating slight pollution in the downtown area, after rain and wind on Thursday dispersed the smog.
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