Beijing raises pollution alert, limits factory activity

Authorities in the Chinese capital today ordered industrial units to halt production and advised children and the elderly to stay indoors after the pollution alert here was raised to the second highest level.
Thirty six companies were asked to stop production and another 75 were told to reduce their output as part of a response triggered by an orange pollution alert, the second highest in a four-tier system.
The alert was cranked to orange, a day after it was declared a yellow one when the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) exceeded 250, indicating serious air pollution.
AQI readings at various monitoring stations in downtown Beijing have topped 300 micrograms per cubic metre today, which is more than 10 times the level considered safe by the World Health Organisation.

The municipal government, in addition to curb industrial activity, has also urged citizens to stay indoors and use public transportation.
Beijing, its neighbours Tianjin and Hebei Province, as well as central and western Shandong Province can expect heavy air pollution to linger for a week, according to a joint weather forecast issued by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The CMA expects the smog to last for a week as no cold front is in sight to help disperse it, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The yellow alert in Beijing is the first since October last. Back then it put into effect an emergency response system.

The municipality's office have advised local residents to take protective measures and use public transport. It has also urged children and the elderly to stay indoors, and middle and primary schools and kindergartens to reduce outdoor activities.
The air quality index at most monitoring stations in the city's downtown areas had exceeded 250 at 9 PM yesterday, the Beijing municipal environmental monitoring centre said.
Beijing has a four-tier alert system - blue, yellow, orange and red - to indicate the air pollution level.