Heavy smog clears from Harbin
Print Edition
Choking smog that brought life to a standstill for three days in Harbin, capital of northeastern Heilongjiang Province, has dissipated.
Flights were able to resume and students returned to school yesterday, said officials.
The heavy pollution, which drew national and international headlines, was largely due to coal-fired heating and the burning of large amounts of stubble as winter approaches, local environmental officials in Harbin have said.
Figures from monitoring stations yesterday morning showed that levels of the most harmful airborne particles, known as PM2.5, had dropped to an average of 123 micrograms per cubic metre in the city.
That was down sharply from Monday’s figure of 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter.
The World Health Organization’s recommended standard is 25.
The overall air quality index in the city — which has a population of more than 10 million and hosts a famed annual ice festival — was 162, or “moderately polluted,” according to monitoring stations.
At the height of the smog on Monday, that figure had exceeded 500, the highest level on the Chinese scale.
Visibility had been so bad — less than 50 metres in some areas — that two city buses got lost for hours while on their regular routes, according to local media.
Officials had warned residents to stay indoors, and many of those who did venture outside were reported to be wearing multiple face masks in a bid to block out the harmful air particles.
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