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City rejects Beijing smog-cutting approach
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SHANGHAI will not be following Beijing’s lead by ordering half of the city’s private vehicles off the road to combat air pollution when it reaches alarming levels, the local environment watchdog said yesterday. But it will be introducing other measures to address the problem.
After the capital’s first-ever red alert for pollution on December 19, an odd-even number plate system was enforced, putting 50 percent of local vehicles in the garage on alternating days until the skies cleared the following week.
However, Shanghai officials favor less drastic measures that focus on individual vehicle emission levels.
The city will bar heavily polluting vehicles from the Outer Ring Road this year, said Zhang Quan, director of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, adding that “it will not matter if they are local or have non-Shanghai car plates.”
The government will also lower its own emissions by modifying the city’s over 100,000 vehicles, including forklifts and bulldozers, this year, Zhang told Shanghai Daily, adding: “Vehicle emission remains the major source of air pollution in Shanghai’s downtown area.”
Shanghai will become one of the first Chinese cities to introduce the China VI emission standard for new vehicles next year, said Zhang, adding that it is equal to the standard enforced in Europe. Vehicles failing to meet the strict new standard cannot be registered.
Zhang said the bureau has been working with other Yangtze River Delta cities on a stricter joint emergency plan that will lower pollution thresholds and cover a wider area.
The Shanghai government aims to reduce the density of PM2.5, the particulate matter that causes hazardous smog, to 42 micrograms per cubic meter by 2020 from last year’s 53 micrograms, Zhang said.
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