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If was Beijing, it would shut 29 of 30 days

THE TIMES of India

THE TIMES of India

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(THETIMESOFINDIA)WhenairpollutionhitsacertaindangermarkinBeijing,thegovernmentissuesaredalertthatautomaticallyputscurbsonfactories,constructionworkandvehicles.IfDelhihadasimilarsystem,thenalmostrightthroughNovember,thestipulationoncarswithodd-andeven-numberedlicenseplateusingtheroadsonalternatedayswouldhavebeeninforce.Schoolsandfactorieswouldalsohaveremainedshutfortheentiremonth.

AccordingtoananalysisbyGreenpeaceIndiaandEastAsia,on29outofNovember's30days,thequalityofairinDelhiwassopoorthatasmogalertshouldactuallyhavebeendeclared,asinBeijing,andemergencymeasuresimposedtobringtheseveritydown.GreenpeaceextrapolateddatafromtheCentralPollutionControlBoard'sairqualityindex(AQI)toidentifythedaysinNovemberthatbreachedthebenchmarkforapollutionalertundertheChinesesystem.

Inthe91daysbetweenSeptemberandNovember,Delhihittheredmarkasmanyas33times.Inthesameperiod,Lucknowhad40poordays."TheproblemisnotlimitedtoDelhi,asseveralothercitiesacrossNorthIndiafacedsimilarlyhighlevelsofpollution,"saidtheGreenpeacestatementonThursday.

Accordingtotheorganization,aredalertissoundedinBeijingwhenthereisthelikelihoodthatanAQIof200-whichindicatesthepresenceintheairofaround350microgrampercubicmetreofPM10(coarsepollutionparticles)-willlingeronformorethanthreeconsecutivedays.IntheIndianAQIsystem,suchalevelwouldbereachedatascoreof300.

Beijingcounterspollutionatfourlevels,redbeingthemostdangerous.Atthatpoint,powerplantsaredirectedtocutemissions,factoriesareshutdown,schoolsareclosedandonlyodd-oreven-numberedcarsareallowedtoplyonalternatedaystotakehalfthevehicularpopulationofftheroads.

"BeijingissueditsfirstformalredalertonDecember8,entailingverystrictmeasurestocurtailpollutionemissionsfromfactories,vehicles,constructionandotheractivities,aswellasclosingdownschoolstoprotectstudents,"saidLauriMyllyvirta,GlobalCampaigner,GreenpeaceEastAsia.

Myllyvirtasaidthesemeasureshelpedmitigatetheimpactoftheevent.Inthethreedaysafterthealert,theChinesecapital'sairqualityhasimproveddramatically,accordingtoresidentsandgovernmentspokespeoplethere.

TheChinaEnvironmentProtectionBureaureportedanairqualityindexof37at9pmonThursday.TheAQIwaslessthan100formostofthedayafterhoveringaroundawhopping300onWednesday.

InDelhi,Thursday'sAQIwas350,whichisdefinedas"verypoor"undertheIndianAQIsystem.TheAQIatRKPuramat9pmwas426(severe),whilethatatpollutionhotspotAnandViharwasidenticalat426.