Beijing ends it Olympics' pollution curbs

22.09.08 15:48

Beijing braced for a return to smog-ridden reality as Sunday marked the first day in two months that construction sites were allowed to reopen, factories could resume production, and all cars were permitted to hit the road.

The pollution curbs aimed at cleaning the capital's air for the Olympics and Paralympics ended at midnight Saturday.

The drastic restrictions had taken half of Beijing's 3.3 million private vehicles off the road and shuttered dozens of polluting factories. Dust-spewing construction in the capital had been halted.

The sweeping anti-pollution curbs, along with a spate of good weather, combined to keep skies clear and dirty air in check to the relief of Chinese and Olympic officials.

The spate of genuinely blue skies gave Beijing's 17 million residents a chance to experience clear summer skies as the city recorded its lowest pollution levels for the month of August in 10 years.

But cleaner air also sparked public debate over whether to extend some measures, especially the traffic restrictions that kept cars off the road depending on whether their license plates ended in odd or even numbers.

"We feel that the Olympics are the best thing that could have happened to air quality in the sense that it has put air quality fair and smack on the agenda," said Cornie Huizenga, executive director of the Manila-based Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities, a regional network of governments, private sector and non-governmental organizations working on air quality.

"People realize cities can be something that's pleasant, something that you can move around in. For the foreseeable future, this is something we should have more of," he said.

Beijing said earlier this month that restrictions on government-owned vehicles, which make up 10 percent of the city's 3 million-plus total, will continue for the time being. The crunch for drivers will come Monday, the first workday with all cars allowed back on the road.

Authorities have made no public announcements about reimposing the measures on private cars, but are encouraging citizens to discuss that option. Lively, vigorous debate has played out on Internet forums, radio stations and newspapers in recent weeks.

Chinese media surveys have shown a range of reactions but, in general, private car owners oppose more restrictions on their vehicles, while non-car owners were more likely to approve the measure.

One newspaper editorial contended the odd/even restrictions are unlikely to succeed.

"People who have some brains should know the result of long-term restrictions. The family that owns one car will have two, while poor people will still be stuck in traffic on buses," Gao Sai wrote in the Guangming Daily.

The public back-and-forth discussion is valuable in highlighting Beijing's problems with traffic congestion, said Deborah Seligsohn, director of the China climate program for the U.S-based World Resources Institute.

"I think it's a really useful debate to have. This debate about the odd/even is really a debate about who has the right of the road. There's only a certain amount of road space out there," she said.

The Olympics helped raise environmental awareness among the public, with more people now understanding the connection between vehicle traffic and air pollution, said Wu Zhonghua, deputy director of the Beijing Automobile Association, an umbrella group of about 160 car clubs.

For the past three years, his group has been encouraging its members to participate in a campaign to drive one day less each month, said Wu. This year, more than 620,000 people participated each month, using public transportation or bikes instead, he said.

"For people living in Beijing, it's so rare to get such blue skies. People were surprised that the environment became so good with all the measures taken, and nobody wants to live with the old dirty air again," he said.