The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection has sent out 11 drones to monitor air pollution in north China ahead of the Apec summit next month in Beijing, the China Youth Daily reported.
The drones found 60 pollution sources in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. Steel and coking factories in Tangshan, Handan and western Qinhuangdao in Hubei province were the worst pollution sources, the report said.
The ministry said it had also sent 15 inspection teams to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shandong to examine how well the anti-pollution measures such as improving waste treatment and suspending and cutting output at factories to ensure air quality during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum from November 7-12, with preliminary meetings beginning on November 5, were working.
Inspectors found that the anti-pollution measures were made relatively late in Qinhuangdao and Xinzhou and Lvliang in Shanxi province; Shijiazhuang and Zhangjiakou in Hubei and Jinan in Shandong did not put forward expliciit standards and requirements for factories to suspend or cut output during the meeting.
The environmental protection ministry will continue with its large-scale inspections, the report said, with an emphasis on polluting factories, crop burning and dusty construction sites.
Having been hit by choking pollution three times this month, the capital will be blanketed in smog again until Saturday, forecasters have warned.
The National Meteorological Centre has predicted smog from yesterday to Friday in north China and the Huang River–Huai River area. The pollution is expected to be the worst tomorrow and on Friday for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
For the summit, Beijing will revive anti-pollution measures used for the 2008 Olympics, ordering a 40 per cent cut in the output of contaminants.
Five surrounding provinces and municipalities were also told to reduce their emissions by 30 per cent from November 3 to 12 as part of Beijing’s effort to ensure clear skies for the international gathering, state media reported last week.
A total of 69 big polluters in the capital will have to shut down completely for the period of the summit while 72 others will have to cut output. Coal-burning boilers will also be turned off, the Beijing Times reported. Hebei province will idle 805 polluting factories and cut emissions at another 223 for 12 days starting from November 1.
Photo: Members of an honour guard practice for the official welcoming ceremony for the Apec summit near Tiananmen gate in Beijing on a day when air pollution was heavy – Reuters
Source: South China Morning Post