Beijing’s bold plan to restrict car use to clear its notoriously polluted skies in time for the Olympics moved into high gear yesterday as the work week began.
Normally snarled traffic flowed smoothly in most areas, although skies were hazy, a sign that it could be several days before the impact of the measures — which also include constructions cutbacks and factory closures — is noticeable.
Under the two-month operation that started on Sunday, half of the capital’s 3.3 million cars will be removed from city streets on alternate days depending on whether their license plates end in an odd or even number.
PHOTO: AP
Sun Weide (孫維德), spokesman for Beijing’s Olympic organizing committee, said the plan should reduce vehicle emissions — a major cause of the city’s stifling pollution — by about 63 percent. He did not give further details.
Sun said that experts from the city’s environment protection bureau would monitor changes in the level of air pollution.
Already, “it can be easily felt that traffic is less heavy now and the number of vehicles on the road is clearly smaller,” Sun said. “We predict that we could achieve our goal.”
Foreign experts say the plan could still go wrong because unpredictable winds might blow pollution from other provinces into Beijing, or a lack of wind — common in August — could enable local pollution to build up.
Yesterday, traffic moved at a steady pace along main thoroughfares and highways.
“Before we would be at a dead standstill,’’ a taxi driver who would give only his surname, Zhang, said. “Now it’s better.”
Drivers with even-numbered plates were forced to take public transportation, where crowds remained surprisingly manageable.
“It seems that the subway isn’t as busy as I expected. There are fans and air conditioning, so you don’t feel very hot,” said Chen Songde, who normally drives to work in Beijing.
In addition to the traffic plan, chemical plants, power stations and foundries had to cut emissions by 30 percent beginning on Sunday.
Dusty, noisy construction in the capital had to stop entirely.
Those caught driving on days they shouldn’t would be fined 100 yuan (US$14), a pricey penalty even for the capital.
On many days, Beijing’s skyline can barely be seen because of a thick, gray-brown haze that hangs over the city.
Already, many competitors in the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Olympics are choosing to train outside of Beijing, and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has said outdoor endurance events lasting more than an hour will be postponed if air quality is poor.
The world’s greatest distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, has bowed out of the marathon event because the city’s pollution irritates his asthma.
Some 300,000 heavily polluting vehicles — aging industrial trucks, many of which operate only at night — were banned starting July 1.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
RSS