Beijing shuts plants in bid to beat smog
Print Edition
Beijing has ordered 2,100 factories to suspend or reduce production as part of its “red alert” measures to deal with smog, the government said yesterday, as the city remained shrouded under toxic haze for a third day.
Authorities in the capital imposed the highest tier of a four-color smog warning system for four days starting Saturday, the second time it has been applied since the pollution precaution scheme was established in 2013.
As part of the “emergency response plan,” 2,100 factories in the city and on its outskirts have been ordered to either stop or scale back production in an effort to cut emissions, said an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, who declined to be named.
The government was sending inspectors to the plants on a daily basis, she said.
“The factories all strictly carried out the measures,” she claimed.
Counts of PM2.5 — harmful microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs — were 172 micrograms per cubic meter earlier yesterday, according to the United States embassy, which issues independent readings. The figure was nearly seven times the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum exposure of 25 over a 24-hour period.
PM2.5 is expected to peak at above 300 micrograms per cubic meter today, the Beijing Daily reported, citing environment authorities.
During the red alert, half of all vehicles — except buses, taxis, electric cars and vehicles for special purposes such as ambulances — are pulled off the roads, while the public transport system increases capacity, the report said.
Schools and kindergartens in Beijing were advised to close yesterday and today, it said.
Similar steps to contain smog have been taken in 33 cities in Hebei, Henan and Shandong provinces.
All the measures reduced the PM2.5 concentration by up to 30 percent compared with a simulation of the situation where no action is taken, said the city’s environment authorities, the report said.
Beijing issued its first-ever red alert on December 7, declaring emergency measures following scathing public criticism of the government’s weak response to choking smog.
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