DPA/Beijing

A city in northern China has banned a fifth of residents’ vehicles from roads, state media reported yesterday, as a fourth-consecutive day of smog choked most of north, central and eastern China.
Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei province, declared an orange alert and banned 20% of vehicles from roads based on the last digit of local license plates, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Vehicles were not banned in Beijing, which had on Friday declared an orange alert, the second-highest of four levels of urgency. The most stringent level officially requires a forecast of three days of severe pollution in a row.
But when smog shrouded Beijing for the first of four consecutive days on Thursday, no red alert was issued, as residents were quick to notice and discuss online.
“Beijing should issue a red alert as soon as possible,” posted Hanmengmingzi on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service. “Schools should be closed. I’d like to take my child out of town to hide.”
Beijing has not issued a red alert since the new system was announced on October 22, online commentators noted. If a red alert were issued, Beijing would reportedly require all schools to close, non-essential government workers to stay at home and half of the city’s 5mn cars to be taken off roads.
With the orange alert, manufacturing plants were ordered to suspend or cut production, Xinhua said, while building work was halted and barbecues banned.
Thirty-six Beijing companies have suspended production and 75 reduced their output since Friday, Xinhua said, citing the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.
Physical education classes, outdoor exercise and sports meetings at kindergartens, primary and high schools were called off.
To check on compliance, the Environmental Protection Ministry has sent 12 inspection teams to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas, Xinhua said.
Severe smog has also been reported in Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Liaoning provinces.






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