“Close down the schools” – Chiang Mai University academic
PHOTO: Measuring the PM2.5 particles and pollution from public transport in Chiang Mai
With Chiang Mai making the list for worst air pollution in the world (Number 3), calls are growing for schools and educational institutes in the northern province to close down temporarily.
“The Chiang Mai University, in particular, should suspend its classes until the situation improves. Not only will this save students, but it will also raise public awareness of the severity of smog,” the Legal Research and Development Centre of CMU’s Faculty of Laws said in a statement yesterday.
AirVisual, an international platform for air-quality data, ranked Chiang Mai as the world’s third-most polluted city on Tuesday. Only New Dehli and Lahore were worse on that day. The sky in Chiang Mai has been a brownish hue for the past week.
Some readings around Chiang Mai today are up to 168 this morning.
CMU’s Legal Research and Development Centre says that in the face of such serious air pollution, government agencies should start handing out free protective masks to people. The centre added that relevant authorities in Chiang Mai should also urgently draw up tangible long-term solutions for smog – which has been affecting the province for over a decade now.
“If those in power do not take action or show any responsibility, they should be transferred,” the centre declared.
Meanwhile, PCD said the amount of small dust particles in the North was very high yesterday mainly due to forest fires. There have been more than 1,000 hotspots in the North this past week.
Though haze in the northern province of Phrae appeared to have eased yesterday, it was still at a worrying level with PM2.5 per cubic metre of air recorded at 68mcg and its AQI at 141, down from 130mcg and 240 respectively. The haze was so bad on Tuesday that one aircraft was not able to land at Phrae Airport.
Smog also enveloped the nearby province of Nan for three consecutive days, as locals rushed to burn agricultural fires before authorities imposed a ban in their area.
In nearby Lampang, the smog was so bad that authorities vowed tough action against those lighting outdoor fires.
SOURCE: The Nation
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