Construction sites are contributing to unacceptably high levels of particulate air pollution, according to officials from the Government and major cities.
Cement, sand, gravel and other construction materials poured into roadways near construction sites have thrown enormous amounts of particulate matter into the air.
“This kind of pollution in the city has improved a little bit, but it is still 2-2.5 times higher than what is standard,” said Nguyen Dinh Tuan, head of the Environmental Protection Agency of the HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
“The city suffers from the worst air pollution in Vietnam. The particulate matter index in HCM City is 0.57mg per cubic metre while the national average is 0.25mg,” said Luu Duc Cuong, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Urban-Rural Environmental Research and Master Plan Centre.
The city has installed devices at six major intersections to measure the level of air particulate matter, he said, and needed to set up more to monitor pollution levels near construction sites.
It was imperative, Cuong added, that the city require people to contain construction materials and keep construction sites clean, as well as more strictly enforce regulations on vehicle emissions.
“If we don’t take this seriously, particulate pollution will have a long-term effect on public health,” Cuong said.
According to figures from the Labour Medicine Institute, particulate air pollution in HCM City has caused losses of US$50 million per year, mostly in medical costs, as illnesses related to air pollution have risen sharply in recent years. The fast pace of urbanisation, including widespread construction and heavy vehicular traffic, is also leaving Ha Noi gasping for breath.
Connie Huizenga, interim executive director of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities, said, “I have been visiting Hanoi since 1991, and, coming back to Hanoi today, I can see the rapid development of the city. There are more small- and medium-sized industrial enterprises operating, more buildings being constructed, more cars and motorbikes on the streets. Hanoi’s air quality in many places is alarming.”
From large construction projects to home building or remodeling in neighbourhoods, the dust levels created by construction materials have become nearly unbearable for many residents.
Cement, sand and gravel is regularly poured into streets near construction sites and the passage of traffic pulverises it, creating a fine, powdery dust. On Pham Van Dong Street, for instance, houses are constantly dusty, and restaurants can’t do business any longer.
Heavy traffic is also creating dangerously high pollution levels at some points of the city. At the intersection of Giai Phong and Dai La streets, where heavy traffic spends a long time idling at red lights, emissions levels are many times the permitted level.
The Ha Noi Department of Natural Resources, Environment and Housing has estimated that, each year, 80,000 tons of dust, 9,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 46,000 tons of carbon dioxide are pumped into the city’s air by cars, motorbikes and industry.
The city currently has an estimated 150,000 cars and 1.5mil motorbikes.
Dang Duong Binh, head of the department’s environmental management office, said motorbikes release most of the poisonous gases found in the city.
“Motor vehicles are the biggest cause of pollution in the city, and not industry or domestic use of coal,” Binh said.
(Source: Viet Nam News – posted August 18, 2007)
