China pollution: First ever red alert in effect in Beijing

Tough restrictions come into force today in Beijing which has issued its first ever red alert for pollution.

Schools were closed, work at outdoor construction sites suspended, and factories have been ordered to halt operations.

Engineer Wang Shaoang drives an electric auto, which are not subject to the odd-even rule, an attempt by the government to promote the use of cleaner vehicles.

Vehicles travel on the Guomao bridge (bottom L) as the Central Business District (CBD) area is seen amid heavy smog after the city issued its first ever “red alert” for air pollution, in Beijing, China, December 8, 2015.

There have been some improvements in air quality in Beijing in the past year, but readings of the most unsafe particles, PM2.5, were up to 12 times the level considered safe.

Enacted in 2013, China’s air pollution response system has never reached its highest level of “red” before.

At 11am on Tuesday, the city’s air quality index, published by the municipal government, stood at 292 – classified as being a level of “heavy pollution”.

Six people have died and another four have been injured in the 33-vehicle pileup in China. Hopefully, the country’s efforts will be massive enough to stop the air pollution affecting its citizens like what is now happening in Beijing.

Staff at Beijing’s Children’s Hospital were overwhelmed by the number of kids seeking treatment after being sickened by the toxic air.

The measures imposed for the alert were good, he said, “but we need much more radical moves than this”. Even-worse smog choked elements of northern China together with Beijing last week – with the pollution index soaring past 900.

The crash happened this morning in the industrial city of Tianjin, around 300 miles from Beijing, and the wreckage of the cars remain strewn across the highway.

Office worker Cao Yong commented: “This is modern life for Beijing people”.

On Monday evening, Beijing PM2.5 levels were 206 micrograms per cubic metre according to the USA embassy, and 187 according to local authorities, with visibility significantly better than the previous week. It means authorities have forecast more than three consecutive days of severe smog.

“This measure reflects that the government, at least, has the courage to face this problem”, said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Chinese environmental group, referring to the red alert.

At that time last week, China’s president was in Paris for the climate conference and his government was widely criticized for not sounding the pollution alarm.