Calls for provincial legislation to tackle worsening air pollution in the region have been made by more than 70 Guangdong People's Congress deputies from seven cities in the Pearl River Delta. Local media said the seven city delegations 'coincidently' tabled seven proposals on the issue at the ongoing congress meeting, detailing the parlous state of air quality in the delta. The News Express reported the seven proposals were submitted by 74 deputies from Guangzhou, Foshan , Zhuhai , Jiangmen , Yunfu , Dongguan and Shenzhen. The report said the deputies suggested the congress create 'local law' to ease the region's air pollution, but no details of the proposals were given. In the past decade, rapid economic growth in the delta, home to about 50 million people, has sent huge amounts of industrial emissions and motor exhaust fumes into the air. The provincial environmental bureau has worked to reduce the problem over the past few years but the latest official data suggest the pollution is worsening. Wu Yihuan, a Shenzhen deputy who put her name to one of the proposals, said cities in the delta should unite to tackle air pollution as soon as possible and a provincial law on the problem would strengthen this collaboration. 'If we are only carrying out the existing measures, the region-wide air pollution will continue to deteriorate,' Ms Wu said. She said the proposals mainly focused on defining legal responsibilities for governments to set up effective pollution monitoring systems, with capable professionals and unified standards. They also suggested setting legal emission quotas for enterprises and limiting the level of motor exhaust emissions in cities. A report in the Nanfang Daily said the seven proposals were similar but were tabled 'coincidently'. Ms Wu said her delegation did not communicate with other cities before the meeting. Atmospheric specialist Wu Dui , from the Guangdong Meteorological Bureau, said the legislation suggestion was meaningless because rules and regulations from the provincial environmental authority were adequate and the problem was that local governments were failing to follow them.
