Heavy smog set to stick around
By Sunday, a total of 26 cities issued top red alerts for the coming days
After Monday morning’s brief break from lingering smog, Beijing residents saw it return in the evening.
The smog is forecast to last until Sunday in Beijing, Tian- jin, and Hebei, as well as other neighboring regions.
Authorities said they have found many factories producing and discharging pollutants in violation of government restrictions, warning that they would be punished severely.
Northern parts of Beijing, such as Yanqing, experienced blue sky and good air quality on Monday morning, but air pollution returned to hazardous levels in the capital, said theMinistryofEnvironmental Protection.
Cities such as Hebei’s Shijiazhuang experienced concentration levels of PM2.5 — hazardous particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers — that exceeded the Air Quality Index’s upper limit of 500 during the holiday.
In addition, heavy fog lowered visibility to 50 meters in certain regions, which disrupted transport in the region, with flights canceled or delayed and expressways closed.
Dai Wei, the mother of a 6-year-old girl living in Hebei’s Baoding, was stranded for hours on the expressway when driving to Shijiazhuang on Dec 31, doubling the length of their journey to more than six hours.
“The lingering smog frustrated me, especially when I heard my daughter coughing due to the poor air quality,” Dai said. “When will we see real improvements in air quality?”
Governments usually issue restrictions to reduce excessive emissions of pollutants, especially from industrial production, and limit the use of vehicles to reduce smog in northern regions in winter.
By Sunday, a total of 26 cities, including Shijiazhuang, have issued red alerts for the coming days, the highest in a four-tier warning system that involves the restriction of industrial production, according to the ministry.
But inspectors from the ministry and affected regions said they found many violations of restrictions, especially by small factories along the border regions of two provinces of Henan and Shandong, with a company in Shandong’s Dezhou found to have resumed production before getting approval.
Such violations have long been an issue “which is closely related to companies’ pursuit of profits,” said Ma Yong, an environmental researcher with the Supreme People’s Court Law Center, adding that the punishment for being caught violating regulations is not substantial enough.
In addition, some governments are hesitant to ban production as it plays a big role in local economic growth, Ma added.
“All violating companies will be punished severely, in accordance with the strictest standards,” said Liu Bingjiang, head of air quality management at the ministry, adding that policy-makers who neglect their responsibilities in protecting the environment will be held accountable.
“We will make efforts to fully implement restrictions during the emergency response periods.”