Medium to heavy smog will hit parts of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei next Tuesday and Wednesday, though it would not be as severe as the air pollution earlier this week, Xinhua cited the NMC forecast.
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Beijing’s environmental protection authority has come under fire for not issuing the highest-level red alert when the city experienced hazardous pollution for five consecutive days from November 27.
In an online statement, the Beijing city government ordered all outdoor construction work to stop on red alert days, besides urging schools to close.
“The air pollution is all-encompassing, and it requires both the government and individuals to shoulder the responsibility to clean up the air”, said Liu Juntang, a businessman whose company develops environmental technology.
Inspection teams had been dispatched to the polluted areas, the ministry said.
The red alert – the most serious warning on a four-tier system adopted in recent years – was announced late on Monday.
This comes as politicians in Paris continue talks on bringing together a global emission reduction plan this week at the UN Climate Change talks. However, public concerns and a debate about the causes of the deteriorating air quality have continued.
Last week, the concentration of fine particulates that pose the greatest risk to human health rose to 666, more than 25 times World Health Organization-recommended levels.
Chen Jining, its environment minister, said China needed a further 30-50% reduction in pollutants in order to significantly improve its damaged air, soil and water, however.
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Last week, Beijing’s traffic authority said it would consider a congestion fee to ease traffic and smog in the city.
