Conference seeks to improve Hanoi’s air quality

A booth introducing organic products made from waste at the conference (Photo:Hanoimoi.com.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Live & Learn organization and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly held a conference in Hanoi on June 7 aiming to share solutions and mobilise actions to improve air quality in Hanoi.

Addressing the event, themed “Clean Air – Green City,” Vice Director of the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Muoi said that Hanoi has made certain investment to control and settle environmental pollution.

It has been implementing a number of measures to manage environmental quality and deal with sources of pollution.

Particularly, the city has set up and operated a system of 10 automatic air sensing stations, and posted the results on its official website, he said.

Muoi noted that Hanoi air quality has been improved recently, especially in industrial parks and clusters as well as residential areas.

As scheduled, the city will install 70 other air sensing stations and a model of comprehensive evaluation of air quality until 2020.

In 2030, the city aims to become a dynamic, modern city with good living conditions for locals and tourists, stated Muoi.

Do Van Nguyet, Director of the Live & Learn said that the “clean air – green city” project will connect schools, the community and enterprises in giving measures to protect people’s health by improving air quality.

At the event, Anna Pia Schreyoegg from the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) suggested some solutions to make air quality in Hanoi better in a project on air quality management and climate change mitigation.

Participants discussed measures and actions to improve air quality to protect people’s health, while proposing policies on air management, sufficient energy, waste and urban management, and green lifestyle.

Earlier this month, the Hanoi Environmental Protection Agency reported that air quality in the city had seen improvement in the first four months of the year, but not in all parts of the city.

Good air quality was recorded at the end of April and the beginning of May at monitoring stations in the districts of Cau Giay, Dong Da and Hoang Mai.

From 10 monitoring stations across the city, concentrations of harmful PM10 and PM2.5 matter decreased by 1.5 and 2 times respectively, compared to the period from November to December 2017.

The air quality index (AQI), which measures daily air pollution, saw a drastic improvement during the Reunification Day (April 30) and Labour Day (May 1) holidays, as well as during Lunar New Year holiday (February 16-21) compared to regular days due to lower traffic in the city.

However, bad air quality was still recorded at monitoring points near major roads, especially on Minh Khai street (part of National Route 32) and from Pham Van Dong street to Thang Long Bridge. -VNA