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In Vietnam, air pollution a bigger daily threat than Covid-19, as smog envelops Hanoi
- Hanoi, where Vietnam’s leadership congress is taking place, had worse air quality than Beijing and New Delhi last week. How did it get so bad?
- Research shows power plants and industrial activities are to blame, as PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc orders review of emissions and action against polluters
Reading Time:5 minutes
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Every day, Nguyen Thi Nham Thin sits at a busy traffic intersection in the Vietnamese capital. She is one of thousands of vendors selling food and drinks who make up Hanoi’s bustling street life. But this constant exposure to the fumes comes at a cost.
Hanoi, a city of 8 million, has around 7 million vehicles.
“I’d inhale about seven to eight hours of dust every day, but you know, even xe om [motorbike taxi drivers] and [other] street vendors would too. It is unavoidable,” the 69-year-old said.
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As Hanoi hosts the Communist Party of Vietnam’s national congress to elect new leadership, the country’s success in containing the Covid-19 pandemic is sure to be celebrated. Thanks to rapid and effective containment measures, Vietnam has had no community transmission for almost two months and daily life looks pretty much like it did pre-2020. For many Vietnamese, however, air pollution is a far bigger concern than the pandemic.
Real-time air quality indexes have had red and purple warnings for weeks, cautioning against outdoor activities as air pollution remains at unhealthy to very unhealthy levels. Local newspapers have frequently rang alarm bells about the smog.
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Last week, the air was so bad that Hanoi was ranked worse than some cities in India and China, including New Delhi and Beijing, according to IQ AirVisual, a Swiss-based group that gathers air quality data.
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