Smog alert continues for Beijing after brief weekend respite
Residents of Chinese capital warned that air pollution levels will worsen over the next few days after a brief respite
PUBLISHED : Monday, 24 November, 2014, 12:08pm
UPDATED : Monday, 24 November, 2014, 5:17pm
Nectar Gan [email protected]
Beijing residents will have to don their face masks again as pollution levels are expected to worsen over the coming days. Photo: AFP
Beijing is expected to be blanketed in smog again starting from tonight after a brief respite due to a cold front, weather authorities have warned.
The capital woke up to blue skies this morning, with an official Air Quality Index reading of 56 at 10am, meaning “good” air quality. The US embassy put the number slightly higher at 89.
However, “light to medium” smog is predicted for parts of northern China from tonight until Thursday because of a lack of winds. Some areas are expected to suffer heavy smog, according to weather.com.cn, a website run by the National Meteorological Centre.
“Fog and smog will frequently appear in northern China and the Huang River-Huai River area in the latter part of November,” the report said.
Beijing has enjoyed several days of relatively clean air since Saturday, after air pollution levels exceeded the maximum on the AQI scale last week. The worst affected areas were the capital and 10 cities in neighbouring Hebei province.
Local governments blamed last week’s high levels of pollution on the onset of winter heating, while others said it was payback as hundreds of factories ordered shut during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit earlier this month sought to make up for lost production time.
Other parts of the nation are also suffering from air pollution, much to the dismay of residents. “Dahuamao”, an internet user, wrote an open letter to the mayor of Zhenzhou city in Henan province, criticising the government’s inability to deal with air pollution.
The letter, posted online last Thursday, drew plenty of attention. “To tell you the truth, we ordinary citizens are very dissatisfied with how you and your government are dealing with the smog,” the letter read
The Zhenzhou government responded to the letter on Sunday, saying that it “modestly accepted” the criticisms. “We need to do a better job,” a spokesman was quoted as saying by the Chengdu Commercial Daily.
