Weather emergency plan to be released in Chengdu

Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, will release a heavy pollution weather emergency plan before 2014 to cope with worsening weather conditions in the city.

According to the Western China Metropolis Daily, the Chengdu Heavy Pollution Weather Emergency Plan was open to the public for comments and suggestions from Oct 30 to Nov 5, and is scheduled to be released within the year.

The Chengdu environmental protection bureau was quoted by the newspaper as saying that by Nov 5 it had received 319 comments and suggestions.

About 50 percent of the people who had made comments and submitted their suggestions opposed the regulation in the plan that motor vehicles are restricted to drive by odd and even numbers within the city's loop expressway when the air quality is above the index of 500.

Their opposition stemmed from the fact that buses are not available in the area between the loop expressway and the third ring road. As a result, the bureau changed the regulation so that motor vehicles are restricted to drive by odd and even numbers within the city's third ring road when the air quality is above the index of 500.

For implementation of the plan, a new Chengdu air quality forecast system is expected to release a daily air condition report starting on Jan 1. Information about air quality will be sent to the public through their cellphones, short messages, the official blog, website and media to facilitate people's travel.

There are 3.4 million motor vehicles in Chengdu. The city's number of motor vehicles ranks 2nd in China after Beijing. Fuel for motor vehicles is the second source of air pollution in the city after coal.

"Haze has been more frequent in Chengdu since last year, and more people have been affected by it," said Niu Weiyi, chief of the outpatient department at the No 7 People's Hospital of Chengdu.

"As a result, the hospital launched a new clinic for smog-related illnesses last month. Since then, the clinic has seen some 200 patients who complained smog-related diseases," said Wang Qixun, an associate chief physician at the clinic.

Wednesday was an unusually fine day for most residents in Chengdu as it was sunny and many people stayed outdoors to bask in the sun. But that afternoon, the US Consulate General in Chengdu, which measures air quality, gave the smog an index reading of 160 based on a PM2.5 reading of 73 micrograms per cubic meter. The level is considered unhealthy. A safe level under WHO guidelines is 25 micrograms per cubic meter.