Mongolia to step up efforts to reduce air pollution in capital: parliament speaker

ULAN BATOR - Mongolia will step up its efforts to reduce air pollution in the capital Ulan Bator, parliament speaker Gombojav Zandanshatar said Tuesday.

Zandanshatar made the remarks during the launch of an infrastructure center intended to benefit the households in the slums, also known as the ger districts, in the capital's Chingeltei district.

"As a result of the implementation of a government decision to replace the low-grade coal with processed fuel in Ulan Bator, the air quality in the city has been improving significantly. Establishing infrastructure centers is also part of our efforts to improve air quality in the capital city," Zandanshatar said, stressing that Mongolia will further intensify the fight against air pollution.

The municipal government of Ulan Bator has approved at least 50 sites for such infrastructure centers to be built in the coming years.

Air pollution is a pressing challenge for Ulan Bator where over 800,000 residents, half of its population, live in the ger districts, with no running water, central heating or sewerage systems.

The ger residents use stoves and burn raw coal and other flammable materials to cook and keep warm during the six-month-long winter, a practice blamed for an estimated 80 percent of the air pollution in Ulan Bator.