Thick polluting haze envelopes the centre of Hanoi (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) -Kindergartens and primary schools in Hanoi will be closed if the air qualityindex (AQI) hits 300 and above, equivalent to hazardous levels, cityauthorities announced on December 25.
The Hanoi People’s Committee onDecember 25 issued Directive No 19 on dealing with air pollution and improvingAQI, which focuses on tightening management over pollution agents and raisingawareness over environmental protection and climate change.
The AQI level for shuttingschools will be determined based on data collected by the Hanoi Department ofNatural Resources and Environment.
Running from 0 to 500, AQIindicates levels of air pollution and impacts on public health. Children, oldpeople and those with respiratory diseases start experiencing healtheffects when the AQI hits 100.
Seven million children die ofair pollution-related diseases per year while nine of 10 breathe air nothealthy for humans worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.
Children’s health and cognitivedevelopment are damaged by exposure to poor environmental conditions,especially polluted air.
City authorities called forinterdisciplinary co-ordination in coping with rising air pollution.
The Hanoi Sub-Department ofEnvironmental Protection was asked to maintain the stable operation of airquality tracking systems and integrate its information with datacollected from the stations of French and US embassies.
The Department of Health willhave to implement mechanisms to prevent respiratory diseases once the AQIreaches unhealthy levels, including guiding people to protect themselves fromfilthy air.
Meanwhile, the Department ofConstruction is responsible for working with Urban Environment Company andits subsidiaries to control dust by vacuuming and watering streets whenever theAQI starts being reported at 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' levels at101. All trucks weighing from 1.5 tonnes can only enter the city within BeltRoad No 3 from 22.00 to 6.00 of the following day.
City police were asked tolaunch campaigns to fine vehicles loading construction materials and wastewithout suitable covers. At the same time, city authorities will encouragepeople to stop using honeycomb briquettes and burning crops, whichboth worsen air pollution in Hanoi.
Earlier this month, theMinistry of Health for the first time announced a list of 14recommendations to deal with air pollution.
The announcement was made onlya week after extreme air pollution hit Hanoi with the AQI stuck at hazardouslevels.
According to Le Viet Phu, aneconomist from HCM City-based Fulbright University Vietnam, air pollutioncost the country 5 to 7 percent of GDP in 2018, equivalent to 11.4-15.9billion USD, with approximately 40,000 deaths related to unhealthy air./.
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