Beijing: Beijing next year will ban highly polluting old cars from being driven whenever air quality alerts are issued in the city or neighbouring regions, the city's environmental protection bureau said on Monday.
China has adopted various measures over the years to reduce the blankets of smog which shroud many of the country's northern cities in the winter, causing hazardous traffic conditions and disrupting daily life.
As of February 15, vehicles which don't meet the government's current standard on emissions - in practice those which are more than ten years old - will be banned in Beijing's main urban area whenever orange or red alerts are issued in Beijing or neighbouring Hebei province and Tianjin city, the bureau said.
Vehicles breaking the restrictions will be fined 100 yuan ($14.50) every four hours they are on the road, it added.
Cars at the National 1 or National 2 emissions standards, which the rules are aimed at, only account for eight per cent of the cars in the city, but they account for more than 30 per cent of smog causing nitrogen oxide emissions, the bureau said.
The adjustment to regulations also said that schools would only be closed selectively during alerts, rather than the blanket approach that was used originally when Beijing issued its first ever red alert in December last year.
The government has been tweaking the new system since its introduction, working to unify it across the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and in February raised the minimum threshold for issuing alerts.
The Beijing city government is also taking measures to reduce the emissions of vehicles driven in the city by using licence plate restrictions to limit the overall number of cars and providing generous subsidies to electric vehicle purchasers to promote fuel-replacement vehicles.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
China has adopted various measures over the years to reduce the blankets of smog which shroud many of the country's northern cities in the winter, causing hazardous traffic conditions and disrupting daily life.
As of February 15, vehicles which don't meet the government's current standard on emissions - in practice those which are more than ten years old - will be banned in Beijing's main urban area whenever orange or red alerts are issued in Beijing or neighbouring Hebei province and Tianjin city, the bureau said.
Cars at the National 1 or National 2 emissions standards, which the rules are aimed at, only account for eight per cent of the cars in the city, but they account for more than 30 per cent of smog causing nitrogen oxide emissions, the bureau said.
Advertisement
The government has been tweaking the new system since its introduction, working to unify it across the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and in February raised the minimum threshold for issuing alerts.
Advertisement
© Thomson Reuters 2016
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
COMMENTS
Advertisement
China's Air Pollution Worsens For First Time In A Decade: Report China Air Pollution Worsens In 2023, First Time In Decade: Study 64,000 Babies Die In Womb Every Year Because Of Polluted Air In China: Report Parents Gave Names Of Interns, Doctors To CBI In Kolkata Horror: Sources How Extreme Weather Is Leading To Rise In Child Marriages In Pakistan Mob Sets Cars On Fire After 15-Year-Old Stabbed Inside Udaipur School 20 Coaches Of Sabarmati Express Train Derail In UP, No Casualties Two Sisters Returning From Court Run Over By Car In UP: Cops India Sends 1,400 kg Anti-Cancer Drugs To Syria In Humanitarian Assistance Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.