Beijing Smog Update: China To Use Lesser Coal, Cleaner Fuels, Deploy Special Police, Phase Out Old Vehicles To Tackle Polluted Air

Notorious for its high pollution levels, China’s sprawling capital Beijing has been covered under a thick layer of smog for over a week now. And as residents vented their anger at how the health hazard is being handled, the acting mayor announced some measures Saturday.

Cai Qi, acting mayor of Beijing, addressed the press and Beijing residents during a three-hour meeting and promised tougher measures to tackle the problem, including setting up an environment police force to ensure compliance with the law.

“Open-air barbecues, garbage incineration, biomass burning, dust from roads — these acts of non-compliance with regulations are actually the result of lax supervision and weak law enforcement,” Cai said, according to a report by Xinhua.

Other measures include shutting down the city’s only coal-fired power plant once the winter is on its way out and the need for heating is lesser, which will cut down the coal consumption by 30 percent from 2016, to less than 7 million tons in 2017. Cleaner gas and diesel will be supplied at fuel stations starting Feb. 15, and 300,000 older vehicles that are high-polluting will be phased out during the year, the report added.

Also, over 2,500 low-end manufacturing plants that produce a lot of pollution will be upgraded to meet higher environmental standards, while another 500 of them will be closed down.

“Though we have made some progresses, air pollution in winter is still very serious. That's why the government must strengthen environmental protection and step up supervision and accountability in 2017,” Cai said.

On Friday, municipal authorities in Beijing announced they would install air purifiers in the city’s schools and kindergartens.

However, Beijing residents find relief Monday as “a strong cold front late on Sunday is expected to disperse smog that has lasted for several days in north China,” according to forecasts by the country’s meteorological department. The snow, which has been falling intermittently since Saturday morning, and blasts of cold air will clean up the air, department officials said.

They also warned the public against getting too close to the snow, which would absorb the pollutants.

“People should carry umbrellas if they walk outside and quickly brush off any snow that falls on their skin,” meteorologist Guo Jianxing reportedly said.