Beijing’s smog clouds forming again as outdoor school activities cancelled
Barbecues off menu and outdoor construction to cease as capital’s air quality hits unhealthy levels
With air pollution expected to rise in Beijing and surrounding regions from today, the city’s authorities have told schools to suspend outdoor activities.
The National Meteorological Centre said yesterday smog had already begun to cover parts of northern and central China, and that medium to heavy smog would hit Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei from today to Wednesday.
The smog was expected to spread to Shanxi, Shandong and northern Henan, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said, blaming the problem on emissions and unfavourable weather.
READ MORE: Beijing air pollution: black humour and satire as capital is shrouded yet again in thick smog
Air quality in the capital would improve on Thursday when a cold front arrived, it said.
Beijing’s environmental protection authority has come under fire for not issuing the highest-level red alert when the city experienced hazardous pollution for five consecutive days from November 27. Many parents complained that children should have been told to stay at home.
The national weather observatory yesterday issued a yellow alert for smog in the northern regions that is expected to last until this evening.
Beijing’s environmental protection bureau ordered all outdoor construction, barbecues and other burning to cease.
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Local government departments have been asked to reduce use of public vehicles, while Beijing’s Commission of Education ordered kindergartens, primary and middle schools and some other educational institutes to cancel outdoor activities. It did not say when they might resume.
China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, plans to upgrade coal power plants over the next five years to tackle pollution, which has become a rising concern for the public.
At an event in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan, on Saturday a primary school pupil reportedly asked Liu Dong, the city’s deputy mayor, why the city’s air was “so bad”.
Thepaper.cn reported the pupil as saying: “We feel so bad in our classrooms as our school suspends physical education whenever heavy smog hits.”
