UB provides air filters to kindergartens and schools

The Ulaanbaatar Mayor’s Council updated on ongoing projects for reducing air pollution in the capital at last Friday’s meeting.

Head of the Ulaanbaatar Air Pollution Reduction Office B.Tsatsral said, “Over the past month, we signed a purchase agreement for 5,270 air purifiers and finished distributing them to kindergartens, general education schools and hospitals situated in Air Pollution Zones 1 and 2 in Ulaanbaatar. We established contracts with nine companies. Moreover, 908 air purifiers were supplied to kindergartens and schools through investments from the local development fund and the Ulaanbaatar Clean Air Project.”

Reportedly, the office is monitoring the operations of distributed air purifiers. A team assigned by the government is working to increase and support fuel production, and so far, it has reviewed the operations of eight factories that produce or have the capacity to produce fuel. After visiting these factories and mines of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi and Energy Resources LLCs, the team made preliminary estimations that 11 companies can produce 300,000 tons of improved fuel each year and that the Second Central Thermal Power Plant’s factory can produce 200,000 tons of briquettes a year.

Within the scope of developing eco-friendly public transportation, Erdem Trans LLC has installed a natural gas power system in six buses, according to city officials. They said it’s possible to increase the number of natural gas powered buses. Mayor’s council members noted that antismog actions have been proving effective in the past month and that their monitoring has been excellent.

Mayor of Ulaanbaatar S.Batbold stated, “Associated agencies have been instructed to report on ongoing projects aimed to reduce air pollution at the monthly council meeting. I’d like to emphasize that these reports have to be introduced at the general Ulaanbaatar City Council’s meeting and provide necessary advertising.”

The mayor reminded that even though the procurement and distribution of air purifiers to places urgently in need of one are going well, city administrations must not forget to continue monitoring in order to ensure that they are used properly. In relation to cutting the use of raw coal, he told his council to pay attention to ensuring the supply of briquettes and doing research on market prices.