Inspectors to conduct random checks on pollution control work
China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said it would start a special inspection on air quality in six provinces and municipalities from Wednesday, vowing to hold the involved personnel to account for any problems or irregularities.
Chen Jining, minister of environmental protection, together with four vice ministers, will spend as long as one month in six provinces and municipalities starting Wednesday for the special inspection on air pollution in the first season of 2017, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday.
The areas include North China's Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and Hebei and Shanxi provinces, East China's Shandong Province and Central China's Henan Province.
The inspection team would randomly check pollution prevention and control work in the regions. It would put emphasis on issues such as the accountability of local government departments for environmental problems, implementation of emergency response plan for heavy pollution as well as cleaning or closure of coal-fired boilers, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
According to the Beijing Youth Daily on Tuesday, it would be the first time a supervision team to local regions is led by the minister himself.
During environmental inspections last year, the ministry said that a total of 720 people were detained and 6,454 held accountable for environment-related offences, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
In 2016, the government declined 11 high-pollution and high-energy consuming projects, involving a total investment of 97 billion yuan ($14 billion).
Despite the government's efforts to fight pollution, outbreaks of smog have become increasingly common in northern China in winter where cold weather and the burning of coal combine to exacerbate the situation, said Xinhua.
India's rapidly worsening air pollution is causing 1.1 million premature deaths each year and is now surpassing China as the deadliest in the world, a new study of global air pollution shows.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that "the number of premature deaths in China caused by dangerous air particles, known as PM2.5, has stabilized globally in recent years," according to a report issued jointly on Tuesday by the Health Effects Institute in Boston and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle.
"We must address the lack of clarity around the four-tier air pollution rating levels. A lack of clarity leads to speculation and undermines trust in the system - the very systems meant to combat pollution and help win the war," Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO Representative, told the Global Times, adding that more research is urgently needed on issues such as impact on public health.
The smog returned to Beijing and Tianjin, as well as Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan provinces, and is expected to last until a cold front comes to the rescue around Thursday, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Xinhua reported on Monday.
