The ministry on Thursday held a meeting with representatives from Hanoi and HCM City and agencies on urgent solutions to deal with the problem.
Hanoi faces the serious air pollution
The PM2.5 content measured in Hanoi’s air monitoring station between September and December this year sharply increased against the 2015 and 2018 period.
According to the ministry, there are six reasons for air pollution. Vehicle emissions in Hanoi and HCM City was the first factor. Currently, Hanoi has more than 770,000 cars and nearly 5.8 million motorbikes. The figure is 700,000 and 7.5 million in HCM City respectively. These exclude those from other localities travelling through the cities.
Construction sites and vehicles which transport construction materials were also an issue. Most sites do nothing to mitigate the dust. Currently, Hanoi has more than 1,000 construction sites.
Straw burning also causes air pollution in addition to the exhaust emissions from industrial production facilities.
The continued use of beehive-shaped coal stoves by many households was also an issue, with commonly 60,000 such stoves used in Hanoi every day.
The final factor was the combination of temperature inversion coinciding with seasonal change.
At the meeting, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha said it was a necessity to install more air monitoring stations.
The Ministry of Health needs to issue official warnings on heath protection for the public in the context of the air pollution.
The minister also recommended cleaning main roads for many times daily, particularly in the dry weather.
It was necessary to have strict regulations on environmental protection for construction sites. The sites need to have measures such as being covered to ease the dust content.
He noted that individuals, agencies and organisations violating environmental regulations need to be published on mass media. Ha also suggested banning the use of beehive-coal stoves from 2021.
In the long run, it is important to develop public transport and raise exhaust emission standards for vehicles to Euro 4 from the current Euro 2, especially in Hanoi and HCM City.