Monitoring index soars

Beijing's "fireworks index" reached its highest level on Sunday, one of the biggest nights for fireworks on the Chinese lunar calendar.

Lantern Festival marks the end of the 16-day holiday in which fireworks can be set off in the capital.

The Beijing Meteorological Bureau reported on its micro blog at 6 pm that the index was level 3, which means residents are advised to refrain from the traditional firework celebrations.

The three-level index was started on Feb 5 to help keep air pollution under control by reducing the smoke from fireworks.

Xinhua News Agency reported that thick fog, lowering visibility to less than 1,000 meters, shrouded central and northern parts of Jiangsu and areas in Zhejiang provinces on Sunday morning.

Smog shrouded southern Beijing and parts of Shanxi, Henan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces on Sunday.

The Beijing Meteorological Bureau also issued a yellow smog alert at 4 pm, saying the visibility in most parts of the capital was less than 3,000 meters.

As of 7 pm on Sunday, the air quality indices in the city proper stayed at Level V to VI, or the heavy to the severely heavy pollution, according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center.

Jin Haixing

(China Daily 02/25/2013 page7)