Thick haze blanketing HCM City in recent days has been blamed on city pollution and possibly the affects from forest fires in Indonesia as local experts claim.
The thick haze worsened on October 6 and reduced visibility in many parts of the city including districts 2, 4, 9, Thu Duc and Binh Thanh. It became thicker in the late afternoon at sunset.
"It looked like mist but was very dry," said a local man, Nguyen Thang Ha, in District 1. "I think it was dust and smoke. On many streets local people have had to drive slower."
Deputy Director of the Southern Hydro-meteorological Centre Dang Van Dung told the Vnexpress Newspaper on October 6 that the haze had covered HCM City and some neighbouring provinces for two days and would continue for some more days as a south-west wind was blowing.
"The haze is the resulted from air pollution which is becoming worse in the city," Dung said. "It not only reduces visibility but will badly affect people's health," Dung warned.
According to the Environment Protection Department, a recent check on air in the city showed that as much as 89 per cent of air samples do not meet required standard.
Traffic blamed for pollution haze in HCM City
"The increasing number of vehicles and traffic jams are the biggest cause of this serious air pollution," the department added. "But this may come from the forest fires in Indonesia with smoke drifting across the region."
