Beijing: pollution comes from wheat straws burned by farmers
A statement issued yesterday by the city's Environmental Protection Bureau said air quality was the worst it has been in six years, due to smoke produced in the countryside. The race to reach "clear skies" requested by the Olympic committee is becoming more and more desperate.
Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) Hebei farmers burning large quantities of wheat straw "are the cause of pollution recorded in Beijing in recent days, the worst level in six years". This was announced yesterday by the Environmental Protection Bureau, which showed satellite pictures of blankets of smoke caused by fires in the open countryside.
A statement issued by the Office said: "The quality of air we are monitoring has deteriorated because of particles that cannot inhaled by people, which come from the fires of bunches of wheat". These are the part of the ears of wheat that remain empty after harvesting: they are burned by farmers all around the world in their fields since in this way the earth can naturally fertilize itself.
An Office spokesman said: "We reported to the State Environmental Protection Administration, which is co-ordinating with its Hebei counterpart to monitor straw burning, which is banned due to its serious pollution potential."
Beijing is doing its utmost to combat air pollution to reach the minimum number of days with "clear skies" required by the international Olympic Committee to hold the Games in the capital. The dust of countless open construction sites, the exhaust of vehicles and sand storms coming from the north make its efforts more difficult.
A Xinhua statement published on 30 May reported that there were only 11 days of clear blue sky in April, the worst record in five years. In the first four months of the year, there were only 51 days of clear sky and to reach the established goal of 239 days per year with "acceptable air quality", the capital needs to have clean skies for at least 22 days per month for the rest of the year.
In recent months, pollution in the capital was so bad that airports were shut down and city lamps had to be lit because of thick darkness caused by dust in the air.
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30/08/2004
18/04/2008
